By: Brendan Donahue
Kubo and the Two Strings begins with a warning: “If you must blink, do it now.” This warning serves as sound advice to any moviegoer who goes into the theater expecting Kubo and the Two Strings to be the stereotypical family summer movie. You would not want to blink as the movie opens with a gigantic wave, rising in a storm, only to be quickly silenced by a woman strumming a shamisen (a traditional Japanese guitar). You would not want to blink, as the hero, Kubo, dances around a gigantic skeleton, dodging attacks and scampering to the top of its skull. You would not want to blink, as suddenly, a sailboat is rapidly constructed out of leaves to help Kubo and his friends cross a lake. The best part is, all of these scenes are linked together by a fantastic story.
After the opening sequence, you find out the woman who calmed the wave was Kubo’s mother, with whom he lives in a cave. Everyday, Kubo (Art Parkinson) descends down to a nearby village and tells elaborate stories, using his shamisen to make small pieces of paper come to life.
His mother warns him not to go out past dark, but one day, Kubo finds himself outside the cave with nightfall quickly approaching. Kubo tries to make it back to the cave in time, but his efforts are in vain. His two evil aunts (both voiced by Rooney Mara) sent by his evil grandfather (Ralph Fiennes) descend from the sky. They chase Kubo through his village while destroying it in the process with their black cloud-like magic. Luckily, his mother is able to use the last of her magical abilities to send Kubo far away, or at least far enough to slow the pursuit of his aunts.
Kubo must then go on a quest, accompanied by a monkey (Charlize Theron) and a beetle (Matthew McConaughey), to find his father’s heirlooms: a sword, a breastplate, and a helmet, in order to save himself and his village.
The whole story is told in breathtaking beauty, with every second upping the visual extravagance, all because of a tedious animation technique called stop-motion animation.
Stop-motion animation is a process where an animator takes a picture of a figure in a pose, then slightly changes it and takes another picture. The animator repeats the process until they have a complete motion.
Animating this way can take a very long time, with little pay off. However, because of the time and effort put in through stop motion animation, it can give the film a unique edge. Which is something rare among an overdose of cookie-cutter superhero films.
Laika Studio, which produced Kubo, is no stranger to unique films. With Coraline, ParaNorman, and The Boxtrolls already under their belts, Kubo and the Two Strings further demonstrates their expertise in the craft and completely shatters any bars they set with their previous films.
Kubo and the Two Strings is a visual marvel; however, at first glance, the story is not as obviously well put together as the visuals.
Kubo’s plot is a complex one, with both basic and advanced themes. Many times throughout the movie I found myself trying to figure out what exactly that deeper purpose was. On the surface, Kubo is about family and how important it is to stick together, but then various complex themes are added, such as what it means to be human, how our mistakes make us human as well as beautiful.
However, the basic themes on the surface, like family, make this movie a web of feel-good emotions. It was because of these easy going family moments that I was able to fully enjoy watching Kubo as an audience member watching for enjoyment, rather than trying to deconstruct and analyze it.
While watching, I got a sense of nostalgia, bringing me back to when I would see PBS stop motion shorts, and the intricate details they displayed to excite my imagination. Kubo brought all of the right emotions into play at all the right times, even if, at times, the story was slow. Because of the way Kubo presents itself as a visual spectacle and the emotions it conjures, I recommend anyone to go out and see Kubo and the Two Strings as soon as possible.
