Saturday Evening Cartoons: Kubo and the Two Strings

As I have more free time on my hands over the summer, I've decided to start another weekly (or maybe bi-monthly) series of reviews. As the title suggests I'll be reviewing or discussing an animated film or television series in these posts. In order to keep my options open comics books, or anything related to graphic art or animation, is fair game. Ostensibly, these articles will be posted on Saturdays. This week I'm reviewing the latest film from Laika animation, Kubo and the Two Strings.

     Kubo and the Two Strings was released in 2016. It tells the story of a young Japanese boy named Kubo (Art Parkinson) who, with the help of a talking monkey (Charlize Theron) and a cursed, amnesiac samurai (Matthew McConaughey), must locate a magical suit of armour worn by his late father in order to defeat his evil Grandfather and his two aunts.

     Kubo features some really stunning animation. The art style, inspired by different Japanese art such as origami and ukiyo-e, is at once familiar and unique, blending the Japanese influences with Laika's usual, Burton-esque, visual style. From the giant skeleton that attacks Kubo, Beetle and Monkey, the largest stop-motion puppet ever produced, to little details like a tear running down Kubo's cheek (in close-up no less) the animators at Laika clearly put a lot of hard work and passion into this film. The facial work, done using 3d printing technology, is some of the best I've ever seen in a stop motion film.

     The story is very much that of a classical mythic journey, with Kubo acquiring a series of objects on the way to a final, somewhat mysterious, destination. Thematically, it is a rejection of philosophies that stress detachment from the natural world and retreat into one's self. These philosophies are embodied in Kubo's grandfather, Raiden, who offers him an immortal life, one without pain but also without love and beauty. Kubo and his family, on the other hand, represent a more humanistic philosophy, embracing emotional attachment and accepting death and separation as a necessary,even valuable, part of life.

---Spoiler Alert---

     It's a subtle film, leaving a lot unsaid and instead communicating visually. Early in the film Kubo's mother's memory is slipping and we know this without having to be told. I appreciate this for the most part but there is one scene near the end that is somewhat problematic. Kubo tells his Grandfather, "These are the memories of those we have loved and lost. And if we hold their stories deep in our hearts then you will never take them away from us." This could be interpreted in a atheistic, materialistic sense. I'm pretty sure that the intention is that Kubo is accepting the fact that he cannot talk to or otherwise physically interact with his parents for the time being. This intention is clear from other scenes and themes running throughout the film. Nevertheless the way it is written is somewhat disingenuous and confusing and I would have preferred a little more clarity.  More problematic is the resolution, where Kubo's Grandfather loses his memory and is told by the villagers that he was a good, kind man. I don't mind the grandfather being redeemed but he needs to choose this himself. This ending comes off as intellectually dishonest.

---End of Spoilers---

     Despite these problems I still really enjoyed Kubo and the Two Strings. It's a unique little animated film, one that is far more mature and subtle than most being released today.

Score: 8.5/10