MJB784
It was visually stunning, but confusing to follow. There was too much explained where I had trouble understanding what the characters were talking about and some of the pacing dragged. Way too much story, which I sometimes like, but this time, the visuals were overwhelming.
charliekusiel
Stop motion animation has always been one of my favorite filmmaking techniques, from Aardman Productions to even the ATATs in Star Wars. "Kubo and the Two Strings", deserves to be among the titles when you list "the great stop motion movies". The story had me hooked from the beginning, and the animation was superb. Kubo and the two strings tales place in a world where magic and humans live together, inspired by ancient Japanese culture, where a boy sets out on a quest to restore peace to his family. The cast was really good, I thought, and I especially loved Charlize Theron's performance as Monkey. The color palette of the film made me not want to take my eyes of the screen and, combined with the animation, was breathtaking. Even though this movie was aiming for the enjoyment of kids, the jokes still landed for me and I still felt the emotion conveyed, especially at the end. The characters The Sisters even made me feel a bit creeped out at times, which was great. In the battle scenes, I felt threatened and in the emotional scenes, I felt sad. This movie, I thought, really did well with conveying emotion. Although I loved the story this movie told, I thought the plot felt rushed at times. This is understandable, though, as they had a pretty low budget and claymation takes a lot of time for not very much product.
netanelarussy
From the storytelling to the animation to the musical scoring, it is amazing. Many animated movies are deemed "kid' movies" due to them being simplistic and always being wrapped up in a neat bow with everyone happy and smiling, but this does not do that. It accepts the reality of his final predicament and shows contentment with it. It is a great movie for a whole family, not just kids.
MrDHWong
Kubo and the Two Strings is an animated stop-motion film by animation studio LAIKA (Coraline, ParaNorman, and The Boxtrolls). Featuring the voices of Charlize Theron, Matthew McConaughey, and Ralph Fiennes, it is a well-made Western adventure film with a distinct Eastern vibe.In ancient Japan, a young eye-patched boy named Kubo lives in a cave caring for his sick mother. To make a living, Kubo travels down to his local village to perform with his shamisen (a three-stringed instrument), which he uses to magically manipulate origami paper into a story about the legendary samurai warrior Hanzo, his deceased father. One day, Kubo is eventually found by his wicked aunts who are working to bring him to the Moon King, who is responsible for killing Hanzo. After escaping, Kubo then journeys to find the missing pieces of Hanzo's armour and defeat the Moon King once and for all.Featuring beautiful visual effects and a clever story told in the style reminiscent of a Japanese fable, Kubo and the Two Strings is an affectionate, yet melancholy tribute to the Eastern influences on Western animation. The stop-motion look makes the effort and care put into the making of the film seem all the more powerful and impactful. In terms of action, the film has some great sword-fight scenes, almost in the vein of Akira Kurosawa's samurai films, but some moments may be too intense for very young audiences. The voice acting is solid, especially from Charlize Theron and Matthew McConaughey. However, I feel that it is Art Parkinson who stands out the most as Kubo, he holds the film with perfect composure without ever making his character seem annoying or bratty.I rate it 8/10
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