Kubo and the Two Strings is the latest stop-motion/CGI hybrid from Laika, the company behind Coraline, Paranorman, and The Boxtrolls. Colorful characters, rich mythology, stunning visuals and a tight narrative easily make Kubo the best animated film of this year.
Kubo (voiced by Art Parkinson) is a master storyteller. Armed with a magic guitar, this young boy regularly captivates the hearts and minds of the local village with his stories of Hanzo, a brave samurai warrior and Kubo's late father. One night, Kubo's mother sends him off on a quest to find Hanzo's suit of armor which will protect him from vengeful spirits from the family's past. Assisting Kubo on this quest are two daring protectors, Monkey (voiced by Charlize Theron) and Beetle (voiced by Matthew McConaughey).
There was a point about halfway through this movie where I feared the narrative might slip into tired "video game" territory. Even though the action is largely stellar, some of the fight scenes play out like our heroes facing different stages in boss battles. However it bounces back through a couple of welcome twists which you'll need to see to appreciate.
Aside from that, everything about this movie could not have been any better. The animation is simply incredible. After just four features, Laika is on-par with the very best of Pixar. Textures are rich and deep which provide a believable sense of place for this mythical story. The characters are all well-developed and show welcome degrees of agency. The three leads are wonderful, but look out for "The Sisters," both voiced by Rooney Mara. They steal the show each time they're on screen.
There's little else to say aside from the words "Go see this movie!" Kubo has something for everyone, and it deserves your support since it's largely outside of the mainstream machine, i.e. Pixar, DreamWorks, the Despicable Me folks, etc.
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Kubo (voiced by Art Parkinson) is a master storyteller. Armed with a magic guitar, this young boy regularly captivates the hearts and minds of the local village with his stories of Hanzo, a brave samurai warrior and Kubo's late father. One night, Kubo's mother sends him off on a quest to find Hanzo's suit of armor which will protect him from vengeful spirits from the family's past. Assisting Kubo on this quest are two daring protectors, Monkey (voiced by Charlize Theron) and Beetle (voiced by Matthew McConaughey).
There was a point about halfway through this movie where I feared the narrative might slip into tired "video game" territory. Even though the action is largely stellar, some of the fight scenes play out like our heroes facing different stages in boss battles. However it bounces back through a couple of welcome twists which you'll need to see to appreciate.
Aside from that, everything about this movie could not have been any better. The animation is simply incredible. After just four features, Laika is on-par with the very best of Pixar. Textures are rich and deep which provide a believable sense of place for this mythical story. The characters are all well-developed and show welcome degrees of agency. The three leads are wonderful, but look out for "The Sisters," both voiced by Rooney Mara. They steal the show each time they're on screen.
There's little else to say aside from the words "Go see this movie!" Kubo has something for everyone, and it deserves your support since it's largely outside of the mainstream machine, i.e. Pixar, DreamWorks, the Despicable Me folks, etc.
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