The defence The Sentimental Softie
“Sincerity is not manipulation.”
The film risks embarrassment to make emotion communal, and that openness is harder than fashionable detachment.
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The Boxtrolls
Animation · Comedy · Family · 2014
An orphaned boy raised by underground creatures called Boxtrolls comes up from the sewers and out of his box to save his family and the town from the evil exterminator, Archibald Snatcher.
Movie details
The Boxtrolls
“Heroes come in all shapes and sizes... even rectangles.”
2014 Animation · Comedy · Family 1h 37m
Critical arithmetic
The consensus, allegedly.
Scores change. Arguments endure.
IMDb
6.8 / 10
64.6K votes
Rotten Tomatoes
78 %
Tomatometer
Metacritic
61 / 100
Metascore
TMDB
6.7 / 10
Community rating
External scores via OMDb · CC BY-NC 4.0. Values normalized for display; availability varies by title.
An orphaned boy raised by underground creatures called Boxtrolls comes up from the sewers and out of his box to save his family and the town from the evil exterminator, Archibald Snatcher.
CriticWise case file
What this film says about your taste.
Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.
The archetype split
Who fights over The Boxtrolls?
For the defence
The Sentimental Softie
“You came to feel something, and you will.”
Read their case For the prosecution
The Cool Ironist
“Feeling things is a little embarrassing.”
Read their objectionThe split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.
Taste neighbourhood
Nearby on the taste map.
TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.
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After a deadly storm, Tom and Jerry find themselves stranded on an unknown island ruled by the evil Wizard of Oz. As they try to find their way back home, they worry for their master Dorothy's safety.
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The Croods: A New Age
Animation · 2020
Searching for a safer habitat, the prehistoric Crood family discovers an idyllic, walled-in paradise that meets all of its needs. Unfortunately, they must also learn to live with the Bettermans -- a family that's a couple of steps above the Croods on the evolutionary ladder. As tensions between the new neighbors start to rise, a new threat soon propels both clans on an epic adventure that forces them to embrace their differences, draw strength from one another, and survive together.
Strange World
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The Lego Movie
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Where it lives
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Streaming availability data supplied by JustWatch.
Names above the title
The people responsible.
Cast & crew
Directed by
Graham Annable · Anthony Stacchi
Written by
Irena Brignull · Adam Pava
Ben Kingsley
Snatcher (voice)
Isaac Hempstead Wright
Eggs (voice)
Elle Fanning
Winnie Portley-Rind (voice)
Dee Bradley Baker
Fish / Wheels / Bucket (voice)
Toni Collette
Lady Cynthia Portley-Rind (voice)
Jared Harris
Lord Portley-Rind (voice)
Nick Frost
Mr. Trout (voice)
Court is in session
Put The Boxtrolls on trial.
Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.
The prosecution The Cool Ironist
“The strings are showing.”
Every cue tells you exactly what to feel and when, leaving sentiment to do the work character should have done.