Reviews & Ratings for
Kubo and the Two Strings (2016)

Laika is a studio synonymous with gorgeously animated stop motion cinema. Ever since the success of their debut film Coraline released in 2009, the studio has become a powerhouse in this particular genre of films. Kubo is their latest offering which still has the signature Laika feel to it.

Kubo and the Two Strings is a fairy tale set in Japan. The Japanese aesthetics of the movie combined with gorgeous stop motion work, turns this movie into a visual spectacle like no other. Every frame of the movie is like a painting. A lot of time was spent in carefully crafting all the elements in the movie and it shows. The story is about a young boy's quest to defeat the power hungry Moon King and his mother's two evil sisters. He is accompanied by a monkey and a beetle (voiced by Mathew McConaughey) on this epic journey. The movie might leave you all teary eyed in the end because of its emotional depth.
For a movie that revolves around musical instruments, the soundtrack is exceptional and greatly adds to the feel of the movie. This is a joyful offering that you should not refuse.

Kubo and the Two Strings is a very ambitious film. Not solely with regards to it's animation, but with what it expects of its audience. This isn't a typical cookie cutter fable for kids. It's mature exploration of loss and life through the eyes of a young boy.

The story centres around Kubo - a young boy tasked with supporting his mother armed with his lute and magical skills of storytelling and origami. Kubo is warned against returning home after it gets dark as his evil grandfather - the Moon King will come for him. When the inevitable happens, Kubo's mother is forced to protect her son from her twin sisters - who make up one of the most unsettling villainous duos animation has ever seen.

Upon waking, Kubo finds himself in an unfamiliar wilderness along with a talking monkey - his new protector. Along the way they meet a half-man, half-beetle creature who was said to be a protege of Kubo's father Hanzo.

The trio learn that in order to defeat Kubo's enemies they need to find three pieces of his father's armour scattered around the wilderness. Thus begins our quintessential heroic quest.

Beetle and Monkey's personalities play off each other brilliantly and provide the base of the dry humour that surrounds this film. Kubo on the other hand is our typical 'greatness thrust upon them' hero - nervous but at the same time determined.

The animation in Kubo is stunning and ultimately a refreshing change from Pixar's usual style that has become the gold standard for animation these days. Charlize Theron (Monkey) and Matthew McConaughey (Beetle) are perfect as the prototypical bickering duo through the film and Art Parkinson is brilliant as a young Kubo.

What follows after they retrieve the items they set out for defies all expectations for a film that is supposedly aimed at kids.

To frame that better - what follows defies all expectations ADULTS have for a children's film with a finale that is laced with loss, yearning and ultimately forgiveness beyond expectation.

This is the core of Kubo and the Two Strings - it treats it's audience, that admittedly is mainly children, with a respect that many kids wish they received.

For too long have children's movies underestimated the content and emotions that they could handle - in ways this was an unconcious belittling of the emotional depth that kids were capable of possessing and processing.

Kubo tries to correct that sentiment with a story that will certainly not please those who may be expecting your typical animated movie.

However for those children who are open to it's unique approach they will come away with a movie that embodies so many fundamentals that their parents try to prepare them for such as loss, forgiveness and acceptance. Ironically, it's precisely these sentiments that were off-bounds for children's cinema for far too long.

A rendition of The Beatles' hit While My Guitar Gently Weeps plays during the credits which states -

I look at the world and I notice it's turning
While my guitar gently weeps
With every mistake we must surely be learning
Still my guitar gently weeps.

I look at you all see the love there that's sleeping
While my guitar gently weeps
Look at you all
Still my guitar gently weeps.

No song could be more perfect to play this film out.

4.5/5