The Boxtrollers (2014), PG, ★★

He kinda does look like Beavis and the box-troll on the right looks like Butthead.

Once upon a time I read Oliver Twist in middle school and when I read it, it was a marvelous adventure of the undertakings of how Oliver sees the outside world and discovers new people that he grows fond of. When I saw this film, I was reminded of the book, but subtract almost every other human with trolls; box-trolls. It is sort of a ridiculous name to call another species because simply trolls are wearing boxes, duh! I have seen two very good animated movies this year, but, this movie is  shockingly boring and very simple-minded for an animated film.

When fiendish exterminator Archibald Snatcher (Sir Ben Kingsley) reports that a little child has been taking by little creatures called the Box-trollers to Lord Portley-Rind (Jared Harris), Portley-Rind sends Snatcher to eliminate all the trolls when he is warned that he may steal all of Cheesebridge's, the town's, cheese. Snatcher wants to live a luxurious life like Portley-Rind, so he vows to kill every troll possible.

The Box-trolls are harmless little creatures who take every object possible and Snatcher and his henchmen: Mr. Pickles (Richard Ayoade), Mr. Trout (Nick Frost), and Mr. Gristle (Tracy Morgan) capture them. When they retreat to their underground lair, Fish (Dee Bradley Braker) calls for Eggs (Isaac Hempstead Wright), a now-orphaned young boy. They treat him as one of their own. Eggs leads Fish and Show to the surface and noticing them is Lord Portley-Rind's daughter, Winnie (Elle Fanning). Winnie tries to warn his father, but he is ignorant of her and tells her to go wash his white hat.

Eggs wants to do anything that is necessary to simultaneously rescue the Box-Trolls in Snatcher's place, find out who he really is, and maintain his respect with the Box-Trolls and the humans. Therefore, he has to protect the Box-Trolls from Snatcher by any means necessary even if it means killing him, too.

I did not like this movie because the story is too simplistic and also very predictable as to how the creators guide each character and also how each piece of the puzzle is placed even when we know what it is going to be from half an hour away. I have seen many times how an exterminator's plan to kill the box-trolls gains him fortune. It gets pathetic and a little boring. And, even though it is crafted some visually amazing framework and animation, the images of box-trolls become more annoying and unbearable than cute and charming.

I do want to praise Sir Ben Kingsley's animated performance trying to give some funny dialogue in his routine and boring character. He tries really hard but it is his demise to exterminate the box-trolls and get what he wants is what made his character a bit forgettable. So, basically I like his performance but not his character too much.

Again, there is some splendor in its animation and a few dark humorous jokes that are hard to resist, but, ultimately, I felt disappointed in how turns out. The little boy's character reminds me so much of Oliver in the book and a few other younger male characters that I felt he was a bit flat and not really interesting. Plus, the movie puts more work in the more riveting action sequences. Therefore, there's no room for exposition in almost all the characters. There were a few bursts of magic but unfortunately that aims low and stays there.

**