Review: Could 'Kubo and the Two Strings' Finally Be Laika’s Big Break?

Meaghan McDonough ‘17 / Emertainment Monthly Staff Writer
This summer we’ve seen a wide variety of animation come through theatres: from Disney’s poignant but still hilarious Finding Dory to the raunchy and reprehensible Sausage Party, and every relatively forgettable animated feature in between—we’ve seen it all. Joining this list is animation company Laika’s Kubo and the Two Strings. The company’s newest film is perhaps the greatest hope yet for the young company to snag an Academy Award for Best Animated Feature.

Kubo and the Two Strings tells the story of a young, one-eyed boy named Kubo living in Ancient Japan. Kubo spends his days in the village playing a magical shamisen—a traditional three-stringed Japanese musical instrument—that brings origami characters to life so he can tell stories to the villagers. But every night, before sundown, he must return to his ailing mother, both to take care of her and also because he has promised her to never be out after dark. It is when he fails to do this one night that the story truly begins: an ancient spirit is after Kubo, and the only way to survive the threat is for Kubo to gain the protection of magical suit of samurai armor before doing battle with the spirit and, hopefully, defeating it.
While the plot is a simple hero’s journey—right down to the ‘three trials’ aspect—what complicates Kubo and the Two Strings are the characters and the magnificent, magical world in which they live. Kubo, voiced by Game of Thrones’ Art Parkinson, is a boy with a powerful gift for storytelling: playing his shamisen brings origami characters to life. It’s not long after we meet Kubo that we find out that Kubo comes from a long line of magical family—warriors and witches to be exact—and that it was his grandfather who stole Kubo’s eye, looking for revenge on Kubo’s father. While Kubo is far and above the main character, the side character’s—particularly Monkey (Charlize Theron) and Beetle (Matthew McConaughey), as well as the funny village woman Kameyo (Brenda Vaccaro)—make the adventure a thrill.

Together, Kubo, Monkey, and Beetle go on a quest in search of the different parts of the armor. They are chased by The Sisters—twin witches, sister’s to Kubo’s mother, both played by Rooney Mara—across many imagined landscapes of Ancient Japan. Menacing temples of bones, underwater plants with all-seeing eyes, and spirit-filled forests are just a few of the locations. The colors vary between bright and warm to dark and deteriorating. There is no detail left out, no bit of animation too subtle to be finely crafted.
And that’s just another wonderful thing about the film. Stop-motion animation, unlike 3D animation, is all done by a real person’s physical hand, and many creators go to great pains to cover up the detail’s left by human fingers. An odd dent left by molding, the use of many different materials so less things have to be physically formed or shaped each time, the use of some CGI or other 3D animation to cover up any mistakes. But Kubo and the Two Strings doesn’t do that. Unlike many of the stop-motion features that have come out in the past decade (Laika’s included), you can actually really tell that this is stop-motion while watching. There are shots where the camera is so close up on Kubo’s face that you can’t help but notice that there is an indent where there wasn’t just a second before. It’s an old, oft-forgotten tag of stop-motion; but it doesn’t hinder the film. Rather, the little details—the maybe mistakes, most likely purposeful—prod at the medium.

And considering just how far the animation goes in Kubo and the Two Strings, it’s no wonder they wanted to keep the audience clued in to the fact it was stop-motion. Following the first set of credits, there’s even a short, time-lapsed ‘making of’ for one of the scenes. The entirety of Kubo and the Two Strings is a marvel to watch, all the way from the Kubo’s first line to the screen fading to black after the credits roll.
If the animation alone makes the film a brilliant piece of moving art, then the script is what makes the film a brilliant movie. Parkinson delivers mature and poignant lines as Kubo, making us believe the boy storyteller as much as the villagers who adore him too. The words coming out of Kubo’s mouth are both poetic and prophetic; almost hypnotic in their rhythm and truly thoughtful. While Kubo carries the bulk of the weighty, self-discovering and nuanced dialogue, the side characters are the ones who bring the bit of levity. The balance between the two is handled well, and make for a really enjoyable experience for audiences of all ages.

Kubo and the Two Strings may look like a fun, ethnographically diverse tall tale with beautiful animation—and yes, it is all of those things. But its screenplay raises it to a new level. By the end of the film, Kubo and the Two Strings isn’t just a young hero’s journey anymore. It’s also about managing loss and being bigger than those who have brought you harm. It is about the value of human kindness, of mourning, of family. It’s a film about legacy. And it handles all of these topics with such delicate but subtle care, a deft hand with a fresh perspective. And it’s marvelous.
Kubo and the Two Strings might be a kid’s movie, but it’ll no doubt be a wonderful adventure for kid’s and adults alike. Breathtaking animation and a energetic sound of the Far-East (the shamisen is featured prominently, for obvious reasons) soundtrack make it a feast for the eyes and ears. What’s more, cast with a lively and unique group of actors who carry a magnificently lyrical script, the film will no doubt be an Oscar contender. Whether it will be able to stand up to Disney’s Moana, coming out this fall, is unknown as of yet, but one thing’s for sure: Kubo and the Two Strings isn’t planning on giving up the award the easily.
Overall grade: A
Watch The Trailer 
[embedyt] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p4-6qJzeb3A[/embedyt]