Why so much hype?

Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.

OKAY SO ///spoilers/// from the get-go this movie showed glaring red flags. from the witch lady who replaces his heart with a clock??? does he have a circulatory system?? what is happening? and then after a huge amount of other concerning things, such as a British Edward Cullen (???)basically bullies jack and in the process his eye is stabbed by the cuckoo, jack the ripper pops up, its casual. he's singing about slaughtering people, as jack the ripper does, you do you, bro. there is some weird stuff with a french dude who falls in love with a two headed lady at a literal freak show. and then when you think "this couldn't get worse, right?" he turns suicidal and decides to throw away his life and climb the snowflakes, "wow." ///spoiler over/// if you are on the hunt for an unintentional Rom-com that will make you laugh harder than twilight purely because of it's awkward and unexplained possibly nonexistent plot (thorns????????), then this is the movie for you, Fam.

We think this movie is fabulous. Both my kids love it and have watched it several times. They are 7, boy and girl. They enjoy the music and artistry. some of the topics are fairly serious but I find most kids see movies for what they are, Fun entertainment. They aren't looking for deeper meaning or emotional attachments. If they want to discuss the movie content, we do , but they mostly just enjoy the show. I suppose this movie isn't for all kids. My kids also enjoy Book of Life, which is also on the odd side. As for the "jack the ripper" part ,my kids have no idea who that is. It was just a scary looking character. They didn't pay that much attention to it.

I found myself skipping through the film as I do not like the Laika- like style and animation for the beginning. So, at some points it is sub-par but others, I just hate it. The story is also not quite as interesting, it's pretty sentimental as it's about a boy with a cuckoo- clock on his heart that tells him the three rules: "Not to fall in love, not to get angry, and not to touch the hands of the clock" or he will die. Madeleine protects him from it.He then meets a little girl while wandering off that is the same age as him, singing while winding up a music box. He then starts to fall in love with her. While, I admit, this does has cute romance, I didn't care for the Boxtrolls style and animation for it.

The idea overall is very promising: a boy with a clock as the heart must find a way to control his feelings for a girl or his heart might stop. However, the execution is embarrassingly bad.After the first 10 minutes, which were decent, the movie starts rushing and skipping over details for no reason. First, the boy meets the girl of his dream, with whom he falls in love within seconds. Then the girl disappears, so he decides to attend her school, in which he meets a bunch of bullies, and BAM, years are skipped and he turns into a teenager. By this point, the girl and the boy still haven't had any significant on screen interactions except that one initial meeting, yet she still gives him a gift box for some reason, and somehow that gift turns up in the hands of his bully, and fighting ensues. Just like that, the movie keeps going in a very confusing and messy fashion. Many characters appear without warning only to disappear within minutes, and their emotions and motivations are rarely explored. Moreover, the relationship between the two main characters is so unconvincing that even Disney's films from 1960s can do better.Nevertheless, the animation is pretty good. Some parts actually look great, both in technology and style, especially the musical sequences. Still, I really don't like the character style used here as it makes the characters quite creepy and emotionless.I also find the music pretty boring, but that might be a consequence of the English dubbing, which is terrible by the way.In conclusion, if you're a die-hard animation fan, you might want to check 'Jack and the Cuckoo-Clock Heart' for the visuals. Other than that, I'm afraid this movie has nothing else to offer.