The Boxtrolls

"Snatcher" is determined to get himself a white hat! Why? Well that symbolises his membership of the town's elite - and it gets him to the table for the cheese tasting, and boy does he like cheese - even if it doesn't particularly like him! The scornful "Lord Portley-Rind", though, is having none of this - until, that is, he is promised that they will be rid of the evil, menacing, baby-stealing box trolls. OK, he has a deal - and together with his three henchmen starts apprehending these curious nocturnal creatures. Are they really the danger he purports, though? After one raid, we escape with "Eggs" and "Fish" down into the subterranean cavern where they live. They are a community, looking out for one and other and living the lives of box-clad "Wombles" - recycling as they go. It turns out too that "Eggs" isn't really a troll, but maybe he is the now grown-up missing infant (and maybe also a stunt double for Nicholas Hoult, too)? What now ensues is a lively and entertaining battle of wills between the exterminators and the rapidly diminishing number of trolls who have to find a way to fight back and expose "Snatcher" who has a curious doppelgänger. Whilst the story isn't really anything new, the stop-motion animation is intricate and colourful with some really engaging characterisations extolling virtues of loyalty and friendship, a tiny hint of a romance that delivers a steadily paced and scored presentation. Good fun!