Kubo and the Two Strings review

Tis is unreasonably late, I realize that. I can try to think of an excuse but I can't, and I'm sorry for that. But it's better to do short reviews for everything I've seen in the last two months than to give up completely on something I said I would start. I'm sorry if anyone has been waiting patiently for more reviews, though unless a following has been formed in my absence I doubt it.

Travis Knight's Kubo and the Two Strings is the story of a boy named Kubo who, along with a monkey and a beetle, tries to fight back against evil forces.

Laika are masters at stop motion animation. Along with Aardman they are helping keep this classic animation style alive while more and more animated films opt for the computer animated approach. Obviously there's nothing wrong with cgi animation, but there is a sense of reality lost when it is not hand drawn or sculpted. Some of the set pieces in Kubo made me wonder how they were able to achieve it, particularly the giant and climactic scenes. Kubo, like Coraline, has a strong story at the centre, which compliments the fantastic visuals and makes the film as a whole more complete. I'm not saying Paranorman and The Boxtrolls have weak stories, I'm simply saying that the stories of Kubo and Coraline are more integral to the films working, while Paranorman and The Boxtrolls will occasionally rely on jokes. It is especially obvious how important the story is as the first lines are the Michael-Caine-esque "If you must blink, do it now".

A problem I face with Kubo(which has nothing to do with the predominantly white cast) is that it's too short. I wanted to spend more time with these characters and learning about the mythology of this world. But stop motion is a lengthy process(as seen in the end credits) so it would have taken a lot longer to make the film if it were two hours long. And there was a moment which I saw coming for reasons completely unrelated to the film which I shouldn't have put together.

In short: I really enjoyed Kubo and the Two Strings and would highly recommend it to anyone, whether it be for the fantastic visuals or the complex and emotional story.