Kubo and the Two Strings Review

You might not have heard of them but there’s a good chance that you have previously experienced a film by Studio Laika. The men and women at the animation studio placed their mark on the movie industry through unique and surreal ways of displaying stop motion animation. Films such as Paranorman and Coraline have brought critical attention from a broad range of viewers who were simply mystified by the craft and effort Laika implements in their movies. So when the news came that a upcoming film by the beloved studio was set in a traditional, yet fictional Japanese world, it only gave promise to an unique area, undiscovered by the studio. Though it is imperative to note that innovation comes with a large margin of risk - the cost of leaving your comfort zone; and we’ve seen the likes of western studios tackling foreign projects, only to leave a bitter taste in our mouths due to a insufficient awareness of their source material. So does Laika come through with Kubo and the Two strings, astonishing us with a well designed, beautifully animated movie? Or does it fall short of its expectations, adding to the pile of disappoints from the 2016 lineup?

Kubo in itself is not a complicated narrative. It follows the story of Kubo himself, and his existential journey throughout the world of Samurai and fables; but overall it is a small adventure showcasing the values of letting go and moving on through life. Taken as a whole the movie triumphs in many areas, especially in the beginning, as we are introduced in a very climactic nature with a loud booming music score. Speaking of which, the movie’s fluctuating musical score is another thing to compliment, as it knows when to be loud and when to suppress itself to a calming tone. The dichotomy between these two elements can only be described as marvelous. When it comes to aesthetics, the film delivers on all fronts, yet surprisingly the plot falls extremely short on an aspect that the majority of animations have seemed to perfect over time: the narrative.

Kubo’s story opens with many promises, the first fifteen minutes being its strongest section. However, there is an obvious abrupt change that occurs sometime after that, in which the story of the movie down scales to a generic plot with predictable twists. The movie starts to lose that seeming wonder that it gave so expertly, and while the animation itself never loses its magic, the story certainly does.

Along his quest, he comes by some somewhat entertaining friendly company, most notably Monkey who starts out as an annoyance but becomes an ally. These side characters take up the majority of the film, which unfortunately also adds to the flaws in it. There are some great moments from these additions at first, for example Monkey as the fearless and strict sentinel for our main character. Both show good chemistry, as a playful Kubo and stern Monkey dance around their primary goal. However, this turns around when we are introduced to our next member, Beetle: the blatant comic relief. From this point on, his actions take up too much focus, and the direction of the story starts to lose itself. Also the relationship between Beetle and Monkey does come off as forced.

Throughout their journey we come across many fictitious foes, such as enormous archaic skeletons and two daunting sister entities. We even see a fair amount of action from these encounters, further displaying the talent working on this film.

The conclusion to the film was a forgettable one, as I mentioned before the story does begin to lose itself. All events leading up to it were by no means bad, but by ending the story in such an abrupt way, without it stretching throughout the story, it seemed almost as if the film forgot how it ended up in its situation in the first place. Certain elements did not meet a clear wrap up, and the last few minutes were lighthearted but without any real meaning.

All in all Kubo and the Two Strings is a good one. The absolutely fantastic animation really is what stands out throughout the experience, even if the story offers nothing new to the table. I do think this film could have been an extraordinary one if it did manage to come through with a plot just as imaginative and smart as the studio’s previous films; but it is what it is. It’s certainly worth a watch, but don’t expect too much out of it.

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