“If you must blink, do it now.”
That is the foreboding warning given to you at the start of the movie, and it could not be any more fitting to the storytelling element of this movie. “Kubo and the Two Strings” is a visually captivating and stunning movie as Laika shows that during a time where book/comic adaptations, live action remakes and 3D animated movies are the most sought after for Hollywood, stop motion films will always have a place in Hollywood.
“Kubo and the Two Strings” is the tale of a young boy, Kubo (voiced by Art Pakinson of "Game of Thrones"), who uses the power of magic and origami to tell vivid stories and embarks on a journey with his two companions Monkey (Charlize Theron) and Beetle (Matthew McConaughey) to find his father’s armor and sword in order to defeat his grandfather, the Moon King (Ralph Fiennes). This movie does an excellent job of drawing the viewer into the movie from the start. The viewer is thrust into an ocean of enormously crashing waves where they see a woman in a boat trying to steer her way through the storm. As a large wave is about to crash into her, the woman reveals a shamisen (a three stringed traditional Japanese instrument) and strums it to reveal her powerful magic that cuts the impending wave in half. You feel a small moment of relief for the woman until another wave comes crashing behind her, which ultimately destroys her boat and washes her up on shore with a baby Kubo. The immediate dark tone and use of magic help to define the direction of the rest of the movie. The story almost feels like someone tried to create a "Legend of Zelda" movie by emulating Akira Kurosawa techniques. Although it is artistically and visually captivating, the story is where audiences will be drawn to the most.
For animated movies, the animation and art is a large part of the movie as a whole, but the voice acting is one of those factors that helps set apart good animated movies from great ones. “Kubo and the Two Strings” does an excellent job of casting the perfect supports. Charlize Theron has the persona of being very stern but sentimental when it comes to some of her characters. I am mainly thinking of her role as Imperator Furiosa from Mad Max: Fury Road. Of course, her character of Monkey in “Kubo and the Two Strings” does not embody the deprivation and desperation of Imperator Furiosa, but the sternly demanding nature is apparent. Monkey acts as a protector more than a companion for Kubo, and Charlize Theron’s tone as Monkey clearly defines that. Charlize Theron does a great job of giving Monkey a voice that matches her persona. Matthew McConaughey deserves just as much praise for giving the character Beetle a voice. In the movie, Kubo and Monkey come across a samurai warrior who loses his memory after being transformed into a large human like beetle. That sense of airiness and confusion is perfectly voiced by Matthew McConaughey as it reminds you of his “alright, alright, alright” attitude from “Dazed and Confused.” To be fair, I feel like that’s probably how his attitude is with life (alright, alright, alright). Art Pakinson does an excellent job of giving the title character a voice and giving life to an amazing story. With my only knowledge of Art Pakinson as Rickon Stark, it is refreshing to see (or hear) him in a different medium like this. The dynamic of Monkey and Beetle is what helps the movies progress smoothly as Monkey provides a serious factor while Beetle gives the movie a hint of comedy. Despite the limited number of lines and character exposure, Ralph Fiennes (the Moon King) and Rooney Mara (the Sisters) both do an excellent job of giving their characters that sense of eerie and evil throughout the movie.
This movie does almost everything right when it comes to filmmaking as it is clear that some inspiration was drawn from legendary filmmaker and storyteller Akira Kurosawa. Akira Kurosawa is a legendary director who specialized in telling his stories visually. His use of his environment and camera work were his means of conveying the emotions of the movie. The film is cut smoothly and transitions do not leave you confused or dragging. There are a few amazing scenes that showcase the large world in which Kubo takes place, and in those scenes, you gain a sense of what the character is going through even though the main focus is on the scenery.
Despite the overall success of “Kubo and the Two Strings”, I did find a few disappointing factors. The main issue that irks me is the lack of music from Kubo and his shamisen. To be fair, I went in with an expectation of the movie revolving more around traditional Japanese music. The first half of the movie boasts a use of magic and origami through Kubo’s shamisen, and the scenes that do incorporate his shamisen all are amazing. After he embarks on his journey, his use of his shamisen becomes less and less, even though it proves to be a powerful weapon and tool. However, this lack of use is more of a personal disappointment and it does not take away from the movie at all. The story is compelling enough to draw you away from small details like that.
The biggest “issue” with this movie is the lackluster feeling of a small world. Yes, I did mention that there are a few scenes that showcase Kubo’s large world, but those scenes are just a few and not enough to invoke that sense into people’s minds. Let me paint a clearer picture. When it comes to stop motion movies, I believe that the main goal, besides creating an amazing story and characters, is to create a feeling of an immense world. Let’s take Tim Burton’s “The Nightmare Before Christmas” and “Coraline” as examples. In “The Nightmare Before Christmas” we are immediately thrown into the large world of Halloween Town, but the first portion of the film isn’t limited to a small town. You are taken into a large world as Jack Skellington presents himself, and are further introduced to other realms through the holiday portals that Jack finds. There is no suppression of any sorts in “The Nightmare Before Christmas,” and the world unfolds even more as the movie introduces you to other holiday realms. It is the same idea for “Coraline.” We as viewers are introduced to a set world until Coraline enters another realm where we are immediately drawn into another world. Despite it being a “small world,” the idea of another realm opens the feeling that the setting is much larger than the initial one. For “Kubo and the Two Strings,” you feel stuck in a very limited and small world in some cases despite the epic battles that ensue. For movies like “The Nightmare Before Christmas” and “Coraline” you become immersed into their respective worlds, but for “Kubo and the Two Strings” you become largely immersed in the story and message that are told.
Regardless of the issues with this movie, none of them matter enough to ruin the movie in its entirety. If you are a movie lover who has grown tired of the live action remakes and unoriginal adaptations, then this is the movie to watch. It is a breath of creative fresh air among a cloud of unoriginal smoke.
Was this movie worth paying for? Absolutely.
