A Young Storyteller Has an Adventure as Fantastical as the Stories He Tells

Monkey (Charlize Theron), Kubo (Art Parkinson), and
Beetle (Matthew McConaughey) in "Kubo and the Two Strings"
Photo Credit: Imdb.com 

Over the years, Pixar and Studio Ghibli have been two of the top studios who have given animated films that both wowed us with their gorgeous visuals and offered thoughtful stories.  Because of this, it’s understandable if you may have forgotten about another animation studio that has given us a share of their own inventive films and deserves recognition, and that studio is Laika.  Since 2009 with their first film “Coraline,” Laika has created a handful of stop-motion animation films that are memorable in their own right.  After “Coraline,” they gave us “ParaNorman” in 2012 and “The Boxtrolls” in 2014.

They now gift us with their fourth film, “Kubo and the Two Strings.”  Directed by Travis Knight, who served as an animator for Laika’s past three films, the filmmaker and studio bring us the best animated film of the year so far with an emotional story, beautiful visuals, and enchantment in every frame.

Kubo (Art Parkinson) is a young boy who lives with his ill mother in a cave on top of a mountain in ancient Japan.  Every day, he walks down to the neighboring village to tell stories to its inhabitants by manipulating pieces of paper into origami with the magic and music of his shamisen.  However, Kubo is told by his mother to stay in their home at night, or else his grandfather, the Moon King, will comes down and harm him.  One night, when Kubo is out late at a festival, the Moon King destroys his village.  Afterwards, Kubo wakes up in an unknown land and finds he is accompanied by Monkey (Charlize Theron), and later, a beetle-like humanoid named Beetle (Matthew McConaughey), who’s a samurai.  The group soon begins a quest to find three ancient pieces of armor that will help Kubo defeat the Moon King once and for all.

The three central characters make for a very colorful trio and are a lot of fun to watch.  Kubo is an energetic storyteller with the heart of a warrior, and watching him venture out into the world gives you a thrilling and emotional view of his coming-of-age journey.  Charlize Theron proves to be a superb choice for Monkey, with a voice that’s authoritative, protective, and full of wisdom, yet still manages to be funny in her deadpan delivery of the film’s more comedic dialogue.  Although Matthew McConaughey’s character acts as the film’s main source of comic relief, Beetle still manages to be a brave fighter who will do what he can to help Monkey guide Kubo on his journey.

The screenplay by Marc Haimes and Chris Butler offers a story that has an engrossing fairy-tale quality, offering us a sense of wonderment during the whole of the protagonist’s adventure.  Throughout the film,  Kubo, Monkey, and Beetle have scenes that involve them fighting monsters, exploring unknown lands, and transitioning into heroes, all of which help craft this film into an epic for all ages.  

With Kubo being a storyteller, we see his audience in the beginning being enraptured with his exciting tales as he tells them to the village, and we sit in the theater and mirror this sentiment as we become drawn into Kubo’s tales.  Similar to the villagers listening to Kubo’s fables, we’re eager to know what will happen next, and with all of the thrilling events that occur in the film, there isn’t any shortage of that feeling.

Because Travis Knight has a history with Laika, he’s able to use his experience with the studio to bring a visually and narratively beautifully film to life.  With all of the detail that goes into the animation, you can tell there was an abundance of dedication from the crew to make a film we will remember.  As you watch “Kubo and the Two Strings,” you can just sit back and lose yourself in the action, emotion, and humor as you cap off the summer-movie season with this example of stunning big-screen magic.

Final Grade: A