The Boxtrolls

The Boxtrolls – Dirs. Graham Annable & Anthony Stacchi (2014)

Nothing against computer animation, but it is a shame that it has supplanted hand-drawn and stop-motion as the predominant art form. What a strange sight it is to see CGI versions of Mickey Mouse, Bugs Bunny, and Charlie Brown. Thank goodness there are still hard working animators dedicated to keeping traditional methods alive.

The Portland-based Laika continues to make strides in stop-motion animation with films like Coraline and ParaNorman, both of which were nominated for Best Animated Feature at the Academy Awards. The Boxtrolls continues that streak, but it's the slightest entry in their oeuvre and if I had my druthers I would have slotted The LEGO Movie in its stead.

The Boxtrolls is set in the Victorian-era village of Cheesebridge, a charming little burg built on top of a mountain. Cheesebridge does have one major drawback. They are plagued by subterranean creatures known as Boxtrolls, who earned their name for their penchant of wearing cardboard boxes like turtle shells. When parents want to scare their kids straight, they tell them the Boxtrolls will snatch them out of their beds and gobble them up.

However, none of those tales are true. Just ask Eggs (Isaac Hempstead-Wright), an orphaned boy who has been raised by the little critters and actually believes himself to be a Boxtroll. It seems these lies have been spread by one Archibald Snatcher (Ben Kingsley), who has fashioned himself a premiere pest exterminator. Make no mistake, he has no altruistic bent. Snatcher wishes to use the Boxtrolls in a scheme to climb the social ladder and join the exclusive White Hats. Led by the Mayor of Cheesebridge, Lord Portley-Rind (Jared Harris), the White Hats gather together to taste some of the world's finest gourmet cheeses.

If I've discussed Snatcher more than I have the protagonists, it's because the villains are the most interesting characters in the film. With his stringy hair and hook nose, Snatcher takes obvious inspiration from the Child Catcher in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. He goes to such great lengths in demonizing the Boxtrolls that he dresses in drag and performs a stage show as Madame Frou-Frou. Snatcher has three henchmen under his employ, the first being Mr. Gristle (Tracy Morgan), a diminutive lunatic who simply repeats the last word he heard. There's also Mr. Trout (Nick Frost) and Mr. Pickles (Richard Ayoade), who try very hard to convince themselves that they are the good guys of the story.

The Boxtrolls themselves don't play much of a factor. The Boxtrolls opens with a terrific introduction to their underground lair filled with knick knacks that have been transformed into Rube Goldberg-ian gadgets. After that, they're simply creatures who must be rescued by their human friends. Eggs is a surprisingly bland hero while his companion Winnie (Elle Fanning), the daughter of Lord Portley-Rind, is defined only by her morbid fascination with assorted grotesqueries ("I was promised rivers of blood!").

That's not to say that The Boxtrolls isn't without its charms. The details in the production design are exquisite with elements of Gothic horror, German expressionism, and Roald Dahl. The animators' passion can be seen in Snatcher's ragged, red jacket and every cobblestone that paves the street of Cheesebridge.

Laika's track record proves they make pictures that appeal to audiences of all ages while never condescending to their youngest viewers. The studio hasn't shied away from giving the kids a good scare, from an otherworldly creature sewing buttons into your eyes or a town plagued by puritan zombies. It's all in good fun and never in a manner that would rack up therapist bills. The Boxtrolls follows suit with a plot drawing parallels to Nazi Germany with the title characters serving as scapegoats for a power hungry madman. The city's leaders are portrayed as ineffectual twits and the townspeople are a few pitchforks shy of becoming a rabid mob. Although Snatcher wants nothing more than a seat at the White Hat table, he is violently allergic to cheese and his face swells to gruesome extremes.

There's a mid-credits scene in which Trout and Pickles ponder the notion that an invisible puppetmaster is behind their every move. This shifts into a time-lapsed video of Laika CEO Travis Knight animating the henchmen's movements. It's a clever button to a movie that could have used that same inventiveness in the screenplay loosely based on the novel, Here Be Mosnters! by Alan Snow. The Boxtrolls doesn't measure up to Coraline or ParaNorman, but the animation and off-kilter sensibilities can still be admired.

Rating: ** (*****)

Lincoln

Lincoln - Dir. Steven Spielberg (2012)

Lincoln opens with a Saving Private Ryan-esque scene of battlefield brutality. Men are impaled by bayonets and strangled in the muck and rainwater. From there, we cut to Daniel Day-Lewis as Abraham Lincoln seated as if he were the D.C. monument come to life. He’s addressed by two black soldiers, one of whom (Colman Domingo) looks up at him with awe. The other (David Oyelowo) is bluntly asking the President about equal pay for black and white troops. Two white soldiers (Lukas Haas and Dane DeHaan) arrive and, with great reverence, begin to recite the Gettysburg Address.  The scene feels lifted right out of a Frank Capra movie and it’s wise of Spielberg to get the mythologizing out of the way first.

President Lincoln is pressured to end the Civil War rather than focusing on the Emancipation Proclamation. Even his closest aides feel the issue will be dead upon arrival at the House of Representatives. Not everyone will be swayed by a heartfelt speech so a great deal of wrangling and backdoor deals is necessary. A trio of lobbyists (James Spader, John Hawkes, and Tim Blake Nelson) is dispatched to curry favor with opposition in the Democratic Party. This includes promises of jobs in the new administration or outright bribery. The House itself is a hotbed for filibustering and childish insults. Have politics really changed that much in the last two centuries? Kushner brings these sequences to life with a steady stream of Sorkin-like dialogue and a surprising amount of humor. Irony isn’t lost in the portrayal of Republicans as the more progressive and compassionate party. The vote for the Proclamation is the centerpiece of Lincoln and a textbook example of classic filmmaking. The outcome is already known, yet there is still palpable tension as each Representative is called upon to vote “Yay” or “Nay.” It’s also interesting to see everyday citizens traveling from far and wide to the White House to seek audience with the President.

Less effective is the delving into Lincoln’s personal life, particularly his rocky marriage to Mary Todd Lincoln (Sally Field). She has been left in a shaky mental state following the death of her son, Willie, at age 12. The scenes shared by Day-Lewis and Field are strong, but showy which means they’ll play well for the Academy voters. There’s also their eldest son, Robert (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), who feels a burning obligation to serve in the Union army, despite his father’s best attempts to keep him out of the war. While the presence of Gordon-Levitt is always appreciated, his part could have easily been cut from the film with little impact.

It speaks volumes for the A-list ensemble cast that Joseph Gordon-Levitt is one of its lesser components. The most noteworthy are Jared Harris as Gen. Ulysses S. Grant, Jackie Earle Haley as Confederate Vice-President Alexander Stephens, David Strathairn as Secretary of State William Seward, Gulliver McGrath from Dark Shadows as Tad Lincoln, and Lee Pace as Fernando Wood, the leader of the Democratic opposition. There’s also Hal Holbrook, Michael Stuhlbarg, Walt Goggins, Gloria Reuben, Bruce McGill, S. Epatha Merkerson, and Gregory Itzin. In this sea of talented performers, Tommy Lee Jones has gained the most notice for his performance as the fervent abolitionist Thaddeus Stevens. His views on racial and gender equality brought him no shortage of enemies in the Democratic Party. A Best Supporting Actor nomination is almost a lock for Jones though James Spader shouldn’t be forgotten as the oiliest of the lobbyists.

Lincoln hinges entirely on the performance of Daniel Day-Lewis who has effortlessly transformed himself yet again. You wonder if his method acting required him to actually travel back in time to shadow the real Lincoln. Physically, he is everything we imagine Abraham Lincoln to be: tall and lanky with the weathered face of a president hard at work. His soft-spoken manner belies the booming voice that many have portrayed him to possess.  His folksy sense of humor leads him to tell several homespun stories to amuse his staff during dire times.

Each shot is beautifully realized by Spielberg’s superb direction and the gorgeous cinematography of Janusz Kaminski whose work includes night scenes illuminated only by candle and the congressional floor backlit by hazy sunlight. The film is set to a score by John Williams that never drowns out the drama.

Lincoln is the film that Amistad should have been. It is Spielberg's best work since Munich and lacks the saccharine sentimentality that plagued War Horse.

Rating: *** ½ (*****)

Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows

Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows - Dir. Guy Ritchie (2011)

In some ways, Warner Brothers' revisionist take on Sherlock Holmes is more faithful to the original stories by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Gone are the great detective's stoic manner and meticulous behavior along with the Meerschaum pipe and deerstalker cap that became pervasive from earlier adaptations. However, it's doubtful Doyle ever dreamed of his most famous character karate kicking villains in the chest or dodging machine gun bullets and mortar shells. Indeed, Holmes as played by Robert Downey Jr. is an eccentric man of action, who can solve problems with his fists as well as his mind. But, the powers of deduction aren't as cool looking as CGI explosions.

Ironically, the BBC's modern day version with Benedict Cumberbatch is more in line with the traditional Holmes. Showrunner Steven Moffat and director Paul McGuigan have also found a way to maintain the cerebral tone while also making detective work visually interesting. If whiz-bang effects and big name stars are more your style, then Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows is right up your alley. The sequel, once again directed by Guy Ritchie, expands on the formula of the previous film and ups the ante with more action, new characters, and a mystery that takes the heroes outside the confines of London as they travel to France, Germany, and Switzerland.

Since the events of the first film, Sherlock Holmes has been diligently connecting a string of mysterious deaths to Professor James Moriarty (Jared Harris), nicknamed the "Napoleon of Crime." The Machiavellian plans of Moriarty involve plunging all of Europe into a world war. At the Moriarty's side is his chief henchman, Col. Sebastian Moran (Paul Anderson), a former military sharpshooter. Holmes's only clue to stop him is a gypsy fortune teller named Simza (Noomi Rapace), whose brother is a member of a terrorist group under the employ of the villainous mastermind. A newlywed Dr. Watson (Jude Law) is unable to enjoy his honeymoon with Mary (Kelly Reilly) as he's dragged along on an adventure that culminates in a showdown at Reichenbach Falls as originally depicted in "The Final Problem."

A Game of Shadows benefits greatly by opening the world of Sherlock Holmes up by bringing in more characters from Doyle's stories. Stephen Fry joins the cast as Sherlock's older brother, Mycroft, who happens to be even smarter and more eccentric. Fry, a noted Holmes enthusiast, is perfectly cast as Mycroft complimenting Downey's manic performance with a hoity attitude and wry wit. Then, there's Jared Harris, who turns in a menacing performance as Moriarty without going over the top.

Noomi Rapace is one of two stars from The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, along with leading man Michael Nyqvist (in Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol), making her Hollywood debut just a few days before the release of David Fincher's remake. Unfortunately, her role isn't nearly as compelling as the goth hacker Lisbeth Salander. As the bland Simza, Rapace doesn't have much to do aside from running from peril alongside Downey and Law. She's doesn’t get to verbally spar with Holmes the way Rachel McAdams (who returns briefly) did as Irene Adler. You wish they had given a meatier role to Kelly Reilly.

The screenplay by the husband and wife team of Kieran & Michele Mulroney (who also wrote and directed the little seen indie flick Paper Man) follows the same formula as the first Sherlock Holmes. It's not wildly innovative or particularly clever, but the actors are able to elevate the material. The real problem with A Game of Shadows lies with the hyperactive direction from Guy Ritchie. The director of Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels and Snatch is known for being a filmmaker who is more style than substance. This is never more apparent than a muddled action sequence involving the heroes fleeing through a forest while chased by German soldiers. Ritchie changes speeds on a dime, going from fast to slow motion. He zooms into the barrel of a rifle and follows the bullet's trajectory. The camera never stays in one place long enough for the audience to figure out what the hell is happening. A Game of Shadows does feature better action scenes such as Holmes and Watson battling Moriarty's men on a speeding train and a unique take on Holmes' pre-visualization before a fistfight against his archnemesis.

Despite some messy direction from Guy Ritchie, Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows is actually an improvement on its progenitor. The superior sequel largely succeeds due to the presence of a formidable villain, higher stakes, bigger set pieces, and the chemistry between its leads. Downey and Law have transformed the Sherlock Holmes series into a Victorian-era buddy action/comedy.

Rating: *** ½ (*****)