Kubo and the Two Strings

Focus Features | Release Date: August 19, 2016

8.1	USER SCORE Universal acclaim based on 551 Ratings

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Lennon-SAug 22, 2016

While Kubo is lovely to look at and I can't help but credit the time that was painstakingly put forth in making this film. Reminds me a lot of Fantastic Mr Fox, however unlike Mr Fox that I did find very enjoyable and funny! Kubo is aWhile Kubo is lovely to look at and I can't help but credit the time that was painstakingly put forth in making this film. Reminds me a lot of Fantastic Mr Fox, however unlike Mr Fox that I did find very enjoyable and funny! Kubo is a masterful dull movie! I've honestly yet to understand all the praise put forth. Are we at a point when visuals alone are "art" and take a backseat to good story telling?… Expand

16 of 33 users found this helpful1617

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Moviefan1970Aug 25, 2016

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. While studio Laika's latest offering contains brilliant detail and painstaking craftsmanship, someone forgot to polish the script and storyline; specifically, there were so many things left unexplained or never fully explained I was left feeling more aggravated than awed. Every time that monkey said "no more questions," I felt like tying her up with unbreakable rope and yelling: "No, PLEASE ask more questions so I could understand what these filmmakers are trying to say!" Some specific queries:
Why was Beetle cursed as a bug in the first place? Bugs were never a part of the story, so why not just leave him a cursed samurai? Or, better idea: MAKE HIM A TINY ORIGAMI MAN (Just imagine how cool it would have been if a giant origami soldier could have bailed Kubo out of trouble with his paper-folding abilities? Doing so would have rendered Little Hanzo obsolete.) Kubo's mother sacrificed herself by saving Kubo by... I dunno... Blasting him to a far-off region of the snow and transforming herself into a monkey? How exactly does one do that??? Why didn't she come back as a wooden talking monkey as opposed to a real one? Why exactly did Kubo's grandfather want his other eye? (The grandfather gave his reasons, Kubo offered a logical rebuttal, but I'm still not sure who was right and who was wrong...) Most frustrating is the fact that grandfather, hyped up as the main baddie, didn't even show up till the end, so instead we were left with two boring witches who looked like they came from Jack Skellington's Halloween Town. The Grandfather, (aka, The Moon King Raiden,) had confusing intentions, and I'm still not sure why he didn't appear more often if he was supposedly after Kubo's eye. Why do some people use magic and others do not? Why was there a magical shamisen? If the shamisen was so powerful, why weren't all the bad guys after it instead of Kubo? Why was the armor split up and hidden into three video-game-like traps in the first place? (Coraline's hide-and-seek plot could get away with this stuff because it took place in an alternate slightly-Lewis-Carroll world, but it made no sense here.) The biggest question of them all that really annoyed me: if this story's theme centered around the importance of family and people remembering ancestral history.... why in the hell weren't the mom's two sisters ever mentioned again or seen as spirits during the lantern ceremony? The old grandfather who was set up as a cruel heartless individual was later humanized, as the townspeople called him "a good man." Ummmm, didn't this guy commit crimes? Why weren't the two sisters humanized? Did they not have souls too? I'm not sure whether this was a plot hole or misogyny.

The visuals were impressive, this much I will admit. With its slightly-exaggerated Japanese inspiration and slightly-jerky character movement, there is great charm to stop motion animation. Laika once again delivers masterful detail and believability with their meticulously-posed dolls and sets. I wish filmmakers would have beefed up the Asian flair, because many backgrounds looked too similar to the far-superior "Coraline." Yet, this complaint is a minor one, as most scenes conveyed a feeling of simultaneous ancient and contemporary, such as the opening ocean wave sequence, (which looked like a devil to animate,) as well as every single dream and story-telling sequence. Occasionally, however, things fall flat: what was Kubo fighting at the end of the film? It looked like a giant leech, or those annoying levitating things destroying New York City at the end of "Avengers." Kubo was, I will admit, the most carefully-planned and likable character in the film, and his actions and mannerisms made him very strong without going overboard in know-it-all attitudes (like Coraline in her film or Norman in "Paranorman.")

The end credits was the final nail in the coffin; a nice original melody would have been much appreciated but noooooo, they settle for a George Harrison oldie. And seeing all that traditional 2D animation made me sick that the entire movie wasn't made in this medium. In the future, Laika should make it their goal to focus their attention, not on building detailed puppets and backgrounds, but script-writing. The studio has been on a downward creative spiral since their first feature "Coraline." (Their last effort, "Boxtrolls," was so story-lite I have a hard time remembering what it was about.) Wherever they locked up Henry Sellick, please let him go so he can go back to directing movies again.… Expand

15 of 46 users found this helpful1531

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familyguyAug 23, 2016

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Warning spoiler

After seeing Kubo i have a mix feeling between great artistic + great visual effect and childlish writing. Not to metion there a lot of loophole in the movie whick i will break down here.
1. The plot is basically rip off from Coraline : old man try to stole the little kids's eye so he can force the kid to living with him forever. To avoid losing the eye the kid must complete 3 task to defeat villain. Tell me that not the same plot from Coraline
2. 3 task is bull **** since he not using any of that to defeat the monster. In the end he use the guitar he have in the first time to defeat evil granpa
3. Ending so anti climax it give me 0 feeling at all
I don't understand what critic's point of view but this movie even worst than Boxtroll… Expand

12 of 20 users found this helpful128

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TakestwototangoAug 25, 2016

What does The Junge Book and Kubo and the two stings have in common? They are both HIGHLY over rated films propped up by mostly younger viewers and hipster critics whom state these films are art in the most pure of forums! If you are the typeWhat does The Junge Book and Kubo and the two stings have in common? They are both HIGHLY over rated films propped up by mostly younger viewers and hipster critics whom state these films are art in the most pure of forums! If you are the type of person who is dazzled by special effects you'll likely think this film is the second comming! If the pursuit of good story telling is what your after I advise you to look elsewhere! I could go in the detail here but a look though at other honest reviews posted here, have already done a pretty good job at explaining it.… Expand

9 of 20 users found this helpful911

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lunanulDec 11, 2016

Gorgeous visuals and animation, but story and character development are seriously lacking. At times, felt like watching an interactive video game, albeit a somewhat boring one.

1 of 4 users found this helpful13

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JonaWeNov 23, 2016

quite boring: lame story & characters. horrible voicecast. too much vfx, the lovely stopmotion is covered and burried under computer visuals. plotholes deep and wide... most of the time the audience will ask, why is he/she doing this andquite boring: lame story & characters. horrible voicecast. too much vfx, the lovely stopmotion is covered and burried under computer visuals. plotholes deep and wide... most of the time the audience will ask, why is he/she doing this and that, characters motivation are mostly unclear or strikingly hold up in uninspired dialogues, trying to cover the missing character development...which goes to zero! Maybe this movie is o.k. for the target audience... 2 points for the time-consuming set-design. designideas and setting could be a good videogame! In this kind of media, the story do not count that much.… Expand

1 of 4 users found this helpful13

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HealingToolbox1Nov 21, 2016

Most original, inventive and deep movie I have seen in 2016. Hardly a derivative bone in its body. A boy learns how to resource and make use of his inner parents, a benefit which will stay with him for the rest of his life. A spiritualMost original, inventive and deep movie I have seen in 2016. Hardly a derivative bone in its body. A boy learns how to resource and make use of his inner parents, a benefit which will stay with him for the rest of his life. A spiritual movie in the same sense as the 1978 Star Wars. The Force is used but not talked about much. Very unusual for adventure stories, the chief villain is not killed at the end. One of the themes is memory. At the end the villain is reformed by giving him new memories by an entire village working together. I'm a VFX and stop=motion nerd and even I cannot fathom this convergence of stop-motion and CGI animation. The facial animation rivals anything we have seen in 2016 from the major effects vendors. Several astonishing character flourishes and responses are attempted--and pulled off. Really remarkable for any animation let alone stop-motion. By far the strongest Laika movie yet, a wonderful convergence of script, voice case, animators and spirit.… Expand

1 of 19 users found this helpful118

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hollywoodgothicJan 21, 2017

Wonderful visuals (though the renderings of humans are sub-par). However: poor dialogue rife with 21st-century colloquialisms and Americanisms, plot holes you could drive a tractor-trailer through, poor story logic, derivativeness,Wonderful visuals (though the renderings of humans are sub-par). However: poor dialogue rife with 21st-century colloquialisms and Americanisms, plot holes you could drive a tractor-trailer through, poor story logic, derivativeness, undeveloped characters. And it was boring. "Coraline" was much better. This was a triumph of style over substance. Only one Asian voice actor! The high scores are saddening.… Expand

0 of 3 users found this helpful03

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gruffaloslayer1May 22, 2021

Just as ugly as Coraline. Laika is the worst companies to make big budget animation.

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

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