Capsule reviews of this week’s video releases, on DVD and Blu-ray, including special features:
• “The Boxtrolls” (PG, 96 minutes, Universal): Don’t be surprised that “The Boxtrolls” got nominated for an Academy Award for best animated film; it deserves consideration, on visuals alone. Laika’s animators, who utilized 3-D printing to generate the roughly one million facial expressions for the character of Eggs, have outdone their previous work on “Coraline” and “ParaNorman,” creating a feast for fans of old-school animation art. The story of “The Boxtrolls,” in lesser hands, might have turned out only so-so. Under Laika’s loving, labor-intensive touch, it takes on a kind of magic. Contains mild action and occasional peril. Extras include a five-part behind-the-scenes documentary; commentary with directors Anthony Stacchi and Graham Annable; featurettes “The Nature of Creation,” “Trolls Right Off the Tongue,” “Allergic to Easy,” “Let’s Dance” and “On the Shoulders of Giants”; and preliminary animatic sequences.
• “Lucy” (R, 89 minutes, Universal): Scarlett Johansson stars as a woman accidentally caught in a dark deal who transforms into a merciless warrior who has evolved beyond human logic. Johansson hopscotches between vulnerability and a robotic commitment to execute whatever her sophisticated internal data processor tells her to do. Her performance is just grounded enough to keep French director Luc Besson’s occasionally inventive, sometimes silly visual flourishes from turning the movie into self-parody. The less time spent thinking about the film’s largely nonsensical plot, the better. The slickly executed bullet-riddler about brainpower can only be enjoyed by cutting off all attempts at logic and rational thought. Contains strong violence, disturbing images and sexuality. Extras include a “Cerebral Capacity: The True Science of Lucy” featurette. Also, on Blu-ray: a making-of featurette.
• “The Drop” (R, 106 minutes, Fox): This taut, atmospheric, exceedingly well-written thriller, adapted by Dennis Lehane from one of his short stories, commits one of the most egregious sins in fiction: introducing an adorable puppy early in the proceedings, only to trot it out at regular intervals to stoke a growing sense of doom. “That’s a good-looking dog,” goes a running line in the film. It’s a credit to Lehane’s screenplay, director Michael R. Roskam’s restraint and a superb cast led by the masterful Tom Hardy that “The Drop” earns every sad-eyed glance and heart-tugging whimper. Hardy plays a bartender in a “drop bar” tavern owned by his cousin (James Gandolfini in a fitting final role) and used by the local crime syndicate to transfer cash in a seemingly endless loop of ill-gotten gains. Contains some strong violence and pervasive profanity. Extras include commentary by Lehane and Roskam, deleted scenes, a making-of, a Gandolfini character profile and the featurettes “Keeping it Real,” “Making Brooklyn Your Own” and “Rocco the Dog.”
