Kubo and the Two Strings

"If you must blink, do it now." If you're going to make a claim as powerful as that about your movie, you had better deliver. Even though "Kubo and the Two Strings" lives up to what it advertized, I think the line would have been more powerful if it had not been used in the marketing. The age of Aardman is over and Laika is now the premier stop-motion animation studio. I have seen every film from this studio but they are not on a winning streak like Pixar was with their first four films. "Coraline" was good, "ParaNorman" was okay but Laika's previous film, "The Boxtrolls", failed to entertain me. Because of that, I didn't know if I wanted to see "Kubo" but eventually the constant advertising won me over. I'm always wary to see films with great design work because they story of the film is sometimes sacrificed or overshadowed. Thankfully, this was not the case with "Kubo". The story feels authentic, the look of the show is attractive and the animation is mesmerizing. The 3D also helps us to appreciate the design.

The first thing the audience of the movie must grasp is the universe the film is set in and it takes longer to get a handle on things in this case than normal. You might think that the story takes place in a realistic, ancient Japanese setting where magic is thought to be fantasy. In fact, the villagers are aware of the existence of magic and accept Kubo's powers as normal aside from the fact that he is very talented. The film audience must also understand the circumstances of Kubo and his mother and as with the setting, this is not revealed immediately. I wondered for quite some time why Kubo's mother is dormant at the start of the day and nurturing at the end. Does she have amnesia? Even before I saw the movie, I knew that "Kubo and the Two Strings" was going to be a lot like "The Wizard of Oz". What pleased me is that the filmmakers took measures to create originality. How did it achieve this where other films fell short such as "Pete's Dragon" (released in the same month)? First of all, the story pattern that Laika incorporates is timeless. In it, a mentor calls an ordinary, relatable protagonist who has aspirations. At first, the hero refuses the call but is given supernatural aid to help them on their quest. The hero has companions on the quest to learn from and get help from but as he starts his journey, the hero must cross the threshold from their familiar world to an unfamiliar world. As part of his quest, the hero encounters labors or tasks that must be completed. Joseph Campbell examined and explained this story pattern in his books and coined it as "The Hero's Journey". Other similarities to this story pattern include Kubo's aunts as temptresses and Kubo's redemption of his father. "Kubo" doesn't necessarily copy from "The Wizard of Oz" because that movie's story pattern is just another example of "The Hero's Journey". The Japanese setting on its own creates a lot of originality. Other story elements that also do wonders in making the film unique is the fact that Kubo is on a quest for three pieces of armor as well as the conflict between Monkey and Beetle. Speaking of that, Kubo has two companions on his quest as opposed to three with Monkey pulling double duty as a mentor/companion. Little Hanzo does remind me of Toto though. In this movie, Kubo is on a quest for an ending. The stories he tells to the village are a metaphor for his own because he has trouble with concluding them. This is how he refuses his call to adventure. Once on the path, his quest is to end his current situation in life so another and better situation can begin. When I saw the scar on Monkey's face, I thought it was symbolic but then came a powerful plot twist that I didn't see coming. Neither did I expect the subsequent twist concerning Beetle and the clash of personalities between Monkey and Beetle makes the plot twists even more dramatic. The title of the movie foreshadows all of this. These plot twists are further examples of "Kubo" being reverential towards "The Wizard of Oz". The ending of the movie is very much a Japanese-type ending because happy, resolving endings are not all that expected by that culture. Honorable sacrifice is well-used theme.

The design of the movie is very reminiscent of Japanese wood block prints and I enjoyed the animation of this film as well. A common misunderstanding is that computer animation is putting an end to two-dimensional and stop motion animation. When you think about it though, did the invention of animation itself put an end to painting? Laika is using CGI special effects with stop motion animation in ways that are re-inventing this method of filmmaking. The animators can use a green screen just like live action filmmakers to place their characters in any setting, let alone the animation itself is amazing. What is most noteworthy is that you can't quite tell what is computer animated and what is stop motion. Because of this thin line, you become engrossed in the well-crafted story. Accentuating an old style of animation with CGI filters and effects is something I admire because you aren't destroying something but giving it new life. "Kubo" was well cast in my opinion. The best vocal performance comes from Oscar-winner Charlize Theron because her role is actually a dual role and she pulls it off amazingly. Beetle is my favorite movie role of Oscar-winner Matthew McConaughey's and that is followed by his character in the first movie I ever saw him in: "Angels in the Outfield". Sometimes, an actor's voice can be so familiar that you can't accept the animated character that he voices. McConaughey didn't let that stop him though. Ralph Fiennes also has a familiar voice but he adapted it so well for his character in this movie that I completely forgot he was a voice in "Kubo". You can't have George Takei as a voice in an animated movie without having him say: "Oh my." I can't finish talking about the cast without also giving a small shout out to Art Parkinson as Kubo and Rooney Mara as the Sisters. Once again, their characters are brought to life because of good acting. As for the musical score, the use of the shamisen did wonders in subconsciously transporting us to this Japanese fantasy world. When I heard the song during the closing credits, I commented that it sounded like the Beatles to me and I laughed when I realized that it was. George Harrison's love of Indian music allows "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" to be perfectly transformed into a Japanese rendition.

Before the release of "Kubo", I was beginning to think that "Zootopia" might not have a lot of competition in winning the Oscar for Best Animated Feature for 2016. Suddenly, it was a neck-and-neck race in my opinion. While "Zootopia" did win that award, I was pleasantly surprised when "Kubo" was nominated for Best Visual Effects. You don't see that happen with an animated film very often. The beautiful design and animation by Laika doesn't take away from the moving story of "Kubo and the Two Strings". As a funny note to end on, the first time the Sisters call Kubo sounds almost like a mobile phone commercial but a lot scarier.

4 Stars