Nothing comes close to the beauty and flawlessness of this film known as “Kubo and the Two Strings” (2016) directed by the brilliant mind of Travis Knight and his team from Laika Studios. Stop motion animation is a rare breed in today’s film making world, but Laika keeps this patience driven art alive in their films. Every frame is carefully placed. Every piece of the set is accurately detailed to that of Medieval Japan. And the story is so well put together, that every character, every scene, and every object serves a purpose to Kubo and his mission to defeat an old sorcerer after his remaining eye.
I won’t go too deep into the plot, but I will say that Kubo gets help from a snow monkey voiced by Charlize Theron and a warrior beetle voiced by the great Matthew McConaughey. These are two actors who lend there voices, giving their stop motion heroes spirit and personality. Both of them in their first draft on paper sounds a little bit crazy. How could a one-eyed boy get along with a talking monkey and giant beetle? The writing makes all of this work with both of them being cunning and funny in their surroundings. I was laughing up a storm amidst all of the sadness surrounding Kubo. This film knows how to mess with the audience’s emotions. I laughed when the scene called for it. I was nervous when the action and tension increased, and I cried when the sadness and happiness collided.
Stop motion has been around for decades and I have never seen animation done this successfully and joyfully. I use joyfully, because this film gave me joy! Yes. This film gave me and my son a bonding relationship in the theater that brought us together. Kubo suffers a lot in this film. More than any character in any other animated movie. He takes his sadness, heartache, and fear in his life and turns it around to make him into a strong and determined hero. And he finds joy in his own life, regardless of his sorrows that continue to pile on top of him. Believe me, he has big reasons to hate life. I’m glad and grateful to be a parent and a husband thanks to this film. There’s so much to love in life.
“Kubo and the Two Strings”
MovieGo 