Kubo and the Two Strings (2016) Review

I really loved Laika Entertainment's past films, those being Coraline, ParaNorman, and The Boxtrolls (though I found the latter to be a little weak in comparison). Apart from having some well-crafted stop-motion animation, they make some of the most daring family films. They are not afraid of going into some mature or dark territory and challenging younger audiences. Naturally, I was really looking forward to their latest entry, Kubo and the Two Strings. It's safe to say that Laika has struck gold yet again. Kubo is a mature and heart-tugging adventure that deserves all the attention it needs.

In this movie, the titular character (voiced by Art Parkinson), who is gifted with magical powers, is separated from his mother due to some circumstances. He is aided by a mysterious Monkey (Charlize Theron) to search for his late father's armor in order to conquer the evil that is after him.

A lot of people say that this is the closest we have to a Legend of Zelda movie. It's not a bad comparison. Twilight Princess is the only game in the series I completed, but I get why they say this. Seeing Kubo and the others trying to retrieve the pieces of armor in different locations reminds me of gathering the Fused Shadows or getting the Master Sword in order to progress the story.

I really enjoyed the main cast of characters. Kubo comes out as someone who has learned how to take care of himself, while also taking care of sick mother. He is kind and a little bit naive like any well-written child character, but also has some dimension when he expresses sadness or fear. The Monkey steals every moment she is on-screen. While very motherly and protective towards Kubo, she is also the only character who takes the journey seriously. In fact, I enjoyed a lot of the banter between the two; it's enjoyable to watch.

Another character worth mentioning is the Beetle (voiced by Matthew McConaughey), who is, what I like to call, a restrained version of Dory from Finding Nemo. He doesn't remember who he is or where he came from, but he doesn't let the whole memory loss get to him. In fact, he proves to be both useful on the journey and (sometimes) useless for comedic effect. I thought he would bring the film down for me because of how goofy he is, but thankfully he's not annoying and he becomes a welcome member of the cast.

Best of all, I can really feel the bond growing between the trio, which leads to my next praise for this movie: it isn't afraid of tugging at the heartstrings; the emotions are all there, something which I thought was lacking in this year's Finding Dory. There were select moments that made me feel sad for certain characters, that I almost felt like tearing up. There were even several moments in which it sent chills down my spine. When a movie sends chills down my spine, then it must be doing something right.

I also have to give praise for its atmosphere. While there is this sense of awe thanks to its lush scenery and vivid colors, there are also moments that are downright spooky and chilling. A lot of that goes to the secondary antagonists, the Sisters (voiced by Rooney Mara). Whenever they appear on-screen, the dark lighting, black smoke, and echos in their voices give the viewers a sense of dread. I remember hearing a little girl about two rows behind me sounding scared in parts of the movie, so I know it's not messing around.

Kubo also makes great use of motifs, or recurring elements, the main one being eyes. There are a lot of close-ups of eyes and references to sight. I won't say what they all mean, but it really opened my eyes (pun not intended) on the many things that a viewer won't catch the first time, and I don't think I caught everything. It would probably make a great film to write an informative essay on.

The animation is absolutely gorgeous. I didn't think Laika could top themselves after the fluidity of The Boxtrolls, but they proved me wrong. They went even further in their animation by having the characters' hairs and robes move along and not once does it look jerky on the final product. The animation on the Monkey's fur is a worthy mention. Each individual fur must have been a pain in the butt to work with for the animators, but she really came to life every time her fur moves. Even better was the giant skeleton that the trio fight sometime later in the film, which was said to be the biggest puppet in stop-motion history, much taller than any human. All that hard work that the animators must have gone through have definitely paid off.

I only have a couple of gripes that do not necessarily bring the movie down for me, but I feel I should address. First, I thought the beginning was a little too exposition-heavy. Characters say things along the lines of "That thing I mentioned to you? It will obviously come in handy later." There's nothing wrong with setting up the quest, but it's a little too "in your face" about it. Lastly, it had its share of some predictable reveals. No spoilers, but there were a couple of moments in which I thought to myself "I called it!" They were foreshadowed, but still obvious to guess.

Despite those, Kubo and the Two Strings is one of the most intelligent and emotionally-driven movies of the year. It has a wonderful story, well-written characters, and some of the finest stop-motion animation you'll ever witness. Best of all, there is a lot of humanity and passion put into it; it doesn't talk down on its audience and it's not afraid of tugging at the heartstrings at select moments. Younger audiences will enjoy the adventure, characters, and humor, while older audiences will appreciate its more mature themes of betrayal, memories, and loss. It offers something for everybody.

There hasn't been a film this year by far that comes close to matching the incredible qualities that Kubo possesses. That is why this is the fourth film this year which I deem as...

SOMETHING WONDERFUL

It's a breath of fresh air after sitting through a lot of trash and let-downs this summer. It only came at number 4 in the box office this weekend, so I urge everyone to support this movie because it deserves more attention than anything that came out this month.