Kubo and the Two Strings

Composite Score: 85.67

Starring: Art Parkinson, Charlize Theron, Matthew McConaughey, Ralph Fiennes, Brenda Vaccaro, Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa, Meyrick Murphy, George Takei, and Rooney Mara

Director: Travis Knight

Writers: Marc Haimes, Shannon Tindle, and Chris Butler

Genres: Animation, Action, Adventure, Family, Fantasy

MPAA Rating: PG for thematic elements, scary images, action, and peril

Box Office: $76.25 million worldwide

Why should you Watch This Film?

                Kubo and the Two Strings is the 2016 stop-motion animated film about a boy in a fictional version of feudal Japan who must use his magical shamisen (stringed instrument) and help from a talking monkey and cursed samurai to defeat his evil aunts and power-hungry grandfather by going on a quest to retrieve the legendary armor of his deceased father. If that all sounds a bit complicated, don’t worry, the film itself contains a rich story that is light enough on the details to keep the audience engaged. It features the voice talents of Art Parkinson as the titular hero Kubo, Charlize Theron as the voice of the anthropomorphic Monkey, Matthew McConaughey as the samurai cursed to appear as a man-sized beetle, Ralph Fiennes as Kubo’s grandfather the Moon King, and Rooney Mara as “the Sisters” Karasu and Washi. It received Oscar nominations for Best Animated Feature and Best Visual Effects (the first animated film since Nightmare Before Christmas to attain the latter) and has been heralded as one of the better animated films of the last decade.

Why shouldn’t you Watch This Film?

                Plenty of people before me have taken issue with the whitewashed casting of the leading performers – sidelining the only Asian voice actors to minimal supporting roles in a film set in Japan that is based entirely on Japanese myth and history. It’s an animated film from an American production studio that released in the mid-2010s, so that’s not the biggest issue for me in the year of our Lord 2024 (were it made today with the same cast, we could have that conversation). My issue lies in the film’s conflicts (or lack thereof). It feels like every major trial that Kubo and his companions face should be insurmountable but ends up being overcome quite simply and easily. There is struggle, but it’s never quite enough to earn the victory that comes at the end. Every solution feels easier than it should have been, lending to a somewhat dissatisfying level of conflict throughout the film. For a film that leans so heavily on its action sequences for entertainment, it feels a bit odd that they resolve themselves so easily – typically through some previously undiscovered or conveniently hidden deus ex machina that comes up at the last minute.

So wait, why should you Watch This Film?

                At its heart, though, Kubo isn’t a film about its conflicts (or lack thereof). It’s a film about stories, storytelling, and the ones around us who carry those stories to the ones who come after. In this respect, the film is a triumph, playing on our expectations of good and evil, justice and injustice, appearance and reality, and generally, the norms of the fantasy genre. It’s brilliantly executed in the way that it engages its audience at every turn with richly detailed scenery, beautifully animated characters and action sequences, and an engagingly told story that unfolds not to make a statement about power or good and evil, but about love and memory. It’s one of the most uniquely executed “mainstream” animated films in recent memory, and I love the ways that it respects its audience by throwing them information that goes counter to expectations, archetypes, and norms and trusts them to roll with it. It’s one of the most “adult” children’s films of the 2010s but never becomes inaccessible for younger (8-10-year-olds) audiences thanks to its charming style, quick jokes, and fast pacing.

                Kubo and the Two Strings wins you over by combining familiar and engaging visuals with new and unexpected twists on the norms of children’s, animated, and fantasy storytelling to create a unique film about story, family, and memory worthy of a place among the greats. While the conflicts that move the film from scene to scene don’t always feel totally earned in their resolutions, the point of the film remains solid – showing us the impact of the narratives we create around ourselves and others. You can currently rent this film on most streaming services if you’d like to check it out.