gabrielpappel I have always been a fan of the stories Studio Laika chooses to tell, but I have often found they fall just a little short of actually hitting all the right emotional responses in dramatic scenes. In Kubo and the Two Strings there was so much emotion I almost forgot to breath. A boy that loves to tell stories must go on to make it through his own, though the cruel dangers he faces spares no one. Absolutely beautiful (but so incredibly sad) story about family.

gporcelli-41235 Warning: this review contains many spoilers!I was so excited to watch this movie after reading the many many very positive reviews but I felt disappointed after doing that. Visually the movie is a masterpiece but I think the unoriginal story and plot holes ruined it. The story seems Dragon Quest IV, there's a boy (a little bard who plays an old guitar-like instrument) which must destroy a monster (his uncle) by collecting the pieces of a legendary armor (sword, armor and a helmet). He travels through the world with the help of his mother (incarnated inside a body of a monkey) and a weird looking scarab-human warrior (he's his dad but, trust me, it took me few seconds to figure out it was his father). So they found the magic sword stuck inside a huge living monster head (but if the sword is so powerful then why it's stuck inside a monster head and the monster doesn't die?). They found the armor under the sea (just how did it get down there?) and the helmet which was widely exposed, you won't believe this... outside Kubo's village (so the legendary helmet was in Kubo's village all the time and no one noticed that?). Meanwhile Kubo's mom and dad die while protecting him from the two evil sisters and Kubo faces his evil uncle in the final battle. In the end Kubo defeats his uncle by playing his guitar with a string of his mom hair, a string of his hair and the string of his father's bow. So the journey in search of the legendary artifacts was...completely pointless (he could play the guitar with the strings way before and his mom and dad would be still alive). Kubo's uncle turns into a nice guy (I don't know how) and the movie ends. Final score 7/10.Kubo and the two string is a good movie. It has stunning visuals, great graphics, memorable characters and good dialogues but it would be a true masterpiece if wasn't for its unoriginal story and plot holes. Overall the movie is a bit overrated but I can recommend it to everyone.

Tweekums In the opening scenes a woman crosses a sea in a small boat with her small, one eyed child. As they reach land she is injured when she hits her head on a rock. Years pass and she is clearly unwell thanks to her injury. The child, Kubo, is now twelve and looks after her. He earns money telling stories which are magically animated by origami characters as he plays a shamisen. One story in particular tells of a samurai who confronted the Moon King… little does he know but the story isn't as mythical as he thought. His mother warned him that he must always be home before the sun sets or his grandfather will find him and take his remaining eye.Inevitably one day he stays out too late is confronted by his two aunts who intend to take him to his grandfather and his mother helps him flee. When he wakens he is in a snow-covered landscape with a talking snow monkey, which claims to be the charm he carried given life by his mother's magic. If he is to survive unharmed they will have to find three magical items; a sword, breastplate and a helmet. On their way they meet 'Beetle', a samurai who has had his memory taken and been turned into an anthropomorphic stag beetle; he joins them in their quest. As they travel on their quest they must face various threats, including his aunts, before Kubo must ultimately face his grandfather.As with other films from Studio Laika there is a darkness about this animation. The opening scene gives a hint of this as we see blood when Kubo's mother bashes her head; then there is the fact that Kubo's grandfather has taken one of his eyes and plans to take the other… with this and 'Coroline' Laika clearly have a thing about taking children's eyes! This doesn't mean it is a bad film, far from it, but it might not be suitable for younger children.I really enjoyed this film; the animation is fantastic and the story is a lot of fun. There are some nice little surprises along the way. The central characters are a lot of fun with Monkey and Beetle providing plenty of laughs as well as poignant moments… they certainly aren't just comedy sidekicks. There are lots of creative flourishes; I loved the way the origami animated Kubo's stories and later he used leaves in a similar way to make a boat. The voice cast, which includes plenty of familiar names does a fine job, playing the characters straight rather than getting too hammy. Overall I'd definitely recommend this; especially to anybody who enjoyed Laika's previous films.

freemantle_uk In recent years Laika has been developing a flawless reputation, similar to what Pixar use to have and their latest film is easily their best (or at least able to rival Coraline).In a small village in a world similar to Medieval Japan Kubo (Art Parkinson) is a young boy who tells stories for money during the day and cares for his mother at night. However, it turns out the stories that Kubo that were true and he is being hunted by The Moon King and his mother's sisters (Rooney Mara).Compared to other Western animation studios Laika are darker with its storytelling and imaginary and Kubo and the Two Strings continues that trend. The sisters are a wonderfully creepy creation because of the masks they wear and Mara's manipulated voice.As well having the best features of other Laika films Kubo and the Two Strings also works within the Disney and Pixar templates. Kubo is a fantasy story in the vein of recent Disney efforts like Tangled and Moana and gives audiences some great action set-pieces. Whilst like Pixar Kubo has the heart and some of the themes would have fitted in a Pixar film - Kubo's first scene was him caring for his mother who was in a vegetative state. It's the type of scene that could have fitted in the opening of a Pixar film - Wall-E and Up even did that.Throughout the film there is a thematic throughline of what makes a family with Kubo having to find out what makes a family as well as care for his mother. There is also a theme the importance of memory and stories and how they are connected. It gives Kubo a lot of substance.Although Kubo does stray into dark material for a kids film it's not without moments of fun. Charlize Theron and Matthew McConaughey make for a great double act as Monkey and Beatle, having some great banter and there are some of big action scenes include a fight with a giant skeleton and Monkey fighting one of the sisters who uses a Kusarigama.Kubo and the Two Strings is a great film, working both as a fantasy adventure and as something deeper. It's a great offering from 2016 which itself offered some great animated films.