To quote Kubo himself describing the story, “This story is a happy one… but it could be happier.” Oh you think, Kubo! It could definitely be happier. The beginning of the film played on the heartstrings much like Kubo did on his shamisen. I was surprised at how quickly and how powerfully I was devastated for the characters' hardships. This emotional investment however, was lost a bit as the movie continued and the story changed shape. When things went wrong, we were meant to care more, but it fell a little short, unable to capture the pain felt in the film’s first quarter.
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That isn’t to say that the cast of characters didn’t have chemistry with each other, if not the audience, which proved important to the storyline. I wasn’t expecting to like Monkey as much as I did, but the stern guide for the young hero shined bright in many scenes, and was surprisingly funny.
One of the greatest highlight of the movie were the villains. Remember the scary spider lady that was Other Mother in "Coraline"? Laika studios has done it again with two expressionless witches, who sent chills as they floated through mist and spoke without opening a mouth.
Another great antagonist was the giant red skeleton, and thank you, Laika! This is the quality content that I come to you for. This character was created with an 18-foot puppet that took six months to build, and hexapod robot to position for the animation. Laika used a hybrid of CGI and stop-motion animation for film, but as a rule sticks with physical creations for at least the main characters and any object or character they directly interact with. The CGI used in the right instances had a fantastic visual effect, and wouldn't have been the same any other way. Yet, they weren't going to shy away from the chance at creating the largest known Claymation puppet, and the results were magical.
Everyone is sure to remember the thrill of the first seeing this beauty. Similar to “the Boxtrolls,” Laika gave the audience a glimpse of the film process with animators appearing alongside our skeleton friend after the credits rolled.
While every ending shouldn’t be tied into a perfect happy bow, the ending of “Kubo” left me a bit unsatisfied. There were moments of “wait, what just happened?” that were more confusion than surprise. Twists in the movie were at times predictable, but in other instances effectively surprising. The premise in general was interesting, and if not completely unique, at least told from an usual perspective.
Lastly, while I'm skeptical of any rendition of a Beatles Song, “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” sung by Regina Spektor over the credits is sure to be downloaded by many as a souvenir. I've played it at least a dozen times by now. It was a great final touch to Laika's newest impressive film.
