Kubo and the Two Strings

johnny_ultimate

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p4-6qJzeb3A

Fair to say the latest Laika animation ups their game in terms of visual splendidness. Richly textured and detailed, this immense stop-motion achievement - cleverly enhanced by digital flourishes - is as fetching when it comes to small details as it is in its big setpieces (one particular highlight involves a ship made entirely of leaves). There's moments of awe, there's moments of quiet reflection, and there's genuinely creepy moments too. Magical origami is a key plot point, and it carries over into the art design, with one memorable character made entirely of paper. Full of imagination and character, this easily sets a new benchmark for mainstream American animation in terms of artistry and craft.

For the most part, I think that carries over to the narrative approach too. This is a mostly familiar tale, but philosophically and thematically it takes a notably unique approach. Set in a fantasy Japan, this is an artful mix of Asian and Western influences that doesn't descend into the sort of empty tokenism or exoticism a lesser studio would have indulged in (I would have preferred a Japanese voice cast, but that's an unrealistic dream given the origins and intended audience of the film). While there's a pretty standard hero's journey afoot, the film actively engages with its themes of mortality and death with morals and conclusions - heavily influenced by eastern religions and rituals - that are quite out of sync with what you'd expect out of, say, a Disney film about similar issues.

The only notable and reasonably significant issue I had with the film was a middle act that felt like it was ticking a few boxes of what a commercial animated film has to be these days. While it does play with the tropes in quite intriguing ways and the characters do evolve, there's still a talking animal and comic relief sidekick to deal with. The latter is the bigger problem because his schtick is ill-fitting in a film that is actually at its best when taking itself seriously - there's a few lovely scenes quite crudely interrupted by a silly quip IMO. The film reins itself in for the final half hour, and there's some humour and lighthearted moments that work much better scattered throughout the film - but there's definitely a sense this is slightly held back from tonal coherence due to market demands.

That aside, Kubo and the Two Strings is one of the more refreshing and accomplished animated films I've seen in a while, certainly in terms of widely released ones. It's a smart but accessible film that is never less than a wonder to look at, and a lovely mix of classic techniques and digital technology. Even with a few concessions towards a wide audience, it's still a relatively sombre film for a family audience, so sadly it threatens to disappear quickly from cinemas - so make sure to check it out while you can.

bkrangle

Saw this last night and really enjoyed it.

It's beautiful to look at, as one has come to expect from Laika films, and the paper folding used throughout looked fantastic.

It was quite dark in parts, and sad in others, so is perhaps not suitable for very young children but I'd encourage anyone else to check it out

Mr E

One of my favorite movies this year. Beautiful, touching, great music, great aesthetic, wonderful acting, great unconventional story, funny, incredible set pieces. I have nothing bad to say about it. Superb.

Only 30 seats filled in a 300 seat cinema on a Saturday afternoon, which is a huge shame. Unless this gets massive word of mouth, it'll be gone in a week, 2 at most.

pixelburp

Up there with some of the best animated features in the last 10 years IMO; funny, exciting, poignant, heartfelt and utterly beautiful to look at, though with that last part that tends to be par for the course with Laika Studio's output. Easily on a par with Pixar's best work, that standard bearer when it comes to mainstream animated cinema, though in some places I'd argue Kubo surpassed even the best efforts of Lasseter & co. It deftly wove (or should that be 'folded') a tale about death and loss without ever pandering to its audience, be they young or old. A masterfully balanced production.

The only negative is how poorly it has been doing in the box office: it seems to be bombing and honestly, that's a total shame. At my own screening there were 4 people in total; ourselves and another couple.

My only hope is that the positive word of mouth gives the film some belated traction, be it in the cinema or through home release because Laika deserve only praise and success on the back of stories like this.

Fysh

I saw this tonight and really, really liked it. I think it's probably ahead of anything Pixar have made, and closer to Studio Ghibli in feel - not quite up there with Ghibli's best, but in a similar ballpark.

It's a pity it's not doing well financially, it reminds me of the Book of Life in terms of not merely using a specific cultural setting for aesthetics alone, but is a richer, better-executed film than BoL with more arresting visuals. Hopefully it'll gain traction soon.

constitutionus

seen it today and thought it was brilliant.

its a kids film but an absolutely mesmerizing example of one with some lovely dark elements to it.

the introduction of the sisters alone is like something out of a horror film.

by the way if your going wait for the credits. theres a speed up stop motion bit of how they did the scene with the skeleton monster. they actually built that thing ! really neat look behind the scenes on how they pulled it off.

8/10 from me

Links234

Absolutely adored it, film of the year for me so far. I was in tears almost at some parts, it was amazing, loved everything about it. Definitely very dark in some parts, though not quite as dark as Coraline.

Which reminds me, I still haven't seen Paranorman.

Frank O. Pinion

This was okay, nothing great. None of Laika's other films have been as good as Coraline, which I loved. It's quite easy to see why this flopped, kids in general in the western world, were simply never going to like this as much as the latest Disney/Pixar film.

pixelburp

Frank O. Pinion wrote: »

This was okay, nothing great. None of Laika's other films have been as good as Coraline, which I loved. It's quite easy to see why this flopped, kids in general in the western world, were simply never going to like this as much as the latest Disney/Pixar film.

Arguably, Kubo wasn't really that much of a kids movie in the first place: sure it had the child protagonist & a quest revolving around him, fun & silly sidekicks, a younger view of the world and of course was an animated tale (which still to this day gets it relegated to 'probably for kids'), but the substance behind it all was pretty ... well, grown-up. It was a story about death and loss, loss of memory, loved ones etc. The first 10 minutes were kinda depressing and heartbreaking really, watching Kubo tend to his catatonic mother. Otherwise, there wasn't a whole lot of 'action' that might have kept kids entertained.

Wonder if Laika possibly shot themselves in the foot by forgetting some of the audience behind their success; their previous film Boxtrolls was far more child-friendly, so maybe after that they wanted to make something more definitively adult in its approach, and just forgot to create something even younger tots might enjoy.

Still a great movie mind you, and eager to bump the thread if only to remind people to seek it out (legally mind you, I can see it has popped up in the usual places).