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Kubo and the Two Strings (2016)

Grade It:  

29 members have voted

  1. 1. Grade It:

    • A
      16
    • B
      9
    • C
      4
    • D
      0
    • F
      0


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Most of the second half just feels like a pretty, soothing screensaver inbetween obvious plot points. If you're hellbent on having a strong plot from beginning to end, your mileage may vary here. I saw a big twist coming up but it enhanced the viewing for me, as if this was a second-watch kind of run.

 

I liked the themes - Just because you're a family doesn't mean it's a healthy setup, dealing with a parent's trauma. 

I thought the resolution was fitting but still kind of odd.

 

Spoiler

A big part of the ending is about Forgiveness but it's just really weird - the problem is ended by lying to an old man. Paranorman did it better. The other conclusions with memories and family were much better.

 

Absolutely stunning visually, beautiful in 3D and worth the money, a positive shoe-in for a  Best Animated Feature nomination. Solid B.

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I loved this. Felt like Laika finally got a handle on how to balance their visuals flourishes with an appealing story. One might argue they tried too hard attempting to imitate Pixar's buddy-adventure mold once Monkey and Beetle enter the picture but ultimately I found it pretty easy to forgive. Just a shame it's not really breaking out of its niche as it seemed like it should be able to.

Edited by tribefan695
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Maybe this is just the year of animation, or maybe I'm going loonie-toonie, but color me very impressed with this movie.  It was a visually arresting, exciting, and emotionally resonating take that reminded me of a cross between the best of Asian Folklore and a great Legend of Zelda game.

 

The mature themes of memory, loss, forgiving, looking for the good in what should be bad, parentage, taking care of a dying parent, sacrifice, all of them speak pretty powerfully.  The simplicity of the score takes you in and you're left with something very special.

 

The only problem I had was that it was very easy to see all of the big plot points coming in advance and the very end doesn't fully utilize and soak in the emotional beats as well as it could have.

 

Between this and Zootopia (and the Little Prince), it's hard.  But it could very well be not only the best animated film of the year but one of the best movies of the year.  

 

A

Edited by The Panda
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Kubo is an example of why I wish we had ratings here like A- or B+. I'm fine with the current system, but I don't want to just throw around A's like it's nobody's business and so it is quite hard for me to give a film an A no matter how much I liked it. And I really, really liked Kubo and the Two Strings. The voice acting was great, the animation was incredible, and the opening thirty minutes or so had this movie well on its way to being a 9/10 or more for me. All that being said, I found a few flaws that bothered me a bit which didn't bring the film down all that much, but we're definitely noticeable. There were a few moments in the middle where I felt the pace of the movie slowing down and was like "okay guys let's pick it up... therrreeee we go!" 

 

The next few are going to include spoilers, so I'll give my grade of the movie first before going into them. 

 

78/100 or a B

 

SPOILERS AHEAD:

1. So I get that by the end they announced that Beetle was Kubo's father and Monkey was his mother. The monkey part made sense, as you could stretch to say that maybe the mother transferred her consciousness into the artifact before she was killed. But the film offers up little to no explanation to how Beetle could be his father. It just kind of... happens. And it happens rather quickly too. All of a sudden it's as if Beetle just looks up and is like "I- I- I'm your father Kubo." (not an exact quote but close enough).

 

2. The main villain's motivation was dumb/not very well explained. From what I understood, the grandfather wanted Kubo's second eye so that... Kubo could come live with him? I get that he was a tyrant and was probably doing a bunch of bad things, and that he had attempted to have Kubo's father killed. But... why? Why was he like this? His defeat was also pretty quick, but that didn't bother me too much.

 

It may sound like I'm a bit harsh on this, but don't get me wrong I really enjoyed it, and it's a shame that it is not performing better.

 

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3 minutes ago, DAJK said:

Kubo is an example of why I wish we had ratings here like A- or B+. I'm fine with the current system, but I don't want to just throw around A's like it's nobody's business and so it is quite hard for me to give a film an A no matter how much I liked it. And I really, really liked Kubo and the Two Strings. The voice acting was great, the animation was incredible, and the opening thirty minutes or so had this movie well on its way to being a 9/10 or more for me. All that being said, I found a few flaws that bothered me a bit which didn't bring the film down all that much, but we're definitely noticeable. There were a few moments in the middle where I felt the pace of the movie slowing down and was like "okay guys let's pick it up... therrreeee we go!" 

 

The next few are going to include spoilers, so I'll give my grade of the movie first before going into them. 

 

78/100 or a B

 

SPOILERS AHEAD:

1. So I get that by the end they announced that Beetle was Kubo's father and Monkey was his mother. The monkey part made sense, as you could stretch to say that maybe the mother transferred her consciousness into the artifact before she was killed. But the film offers up little to no explanation to how Beetle could be his father. It just kind of... happens. And it happens rather quickly too. All of a sudden it's as if Beetle just looks up and is like "I- I- I'm your father Kubo." (not an exact quote but close enough).

 

2. The main villain's motivation was dumb/not very well explained. From what I understood, the grandfather wanted Kubo's second eye so that... Kubo could come live with him? I get that he was a tyrant and was probably doing a bunch of bad things, and that he had attempted to have Kubo's father killed. But... why? Why was he like this? His defeat was also pretty quick, but that didn't bother me too much.

 

It may sound like I'm a bit harsh on this, but don't get me wrong I really enjoyed it, and it's a shame that it is not performing better.

 

 

Kubo's grandfather was a god, and by his nature was blind to humanity.

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I adored this. I don't need to remind all of you how amazing the visuals are, but I feel like the more straight forward, objective oriented story works better than it should here, especially as it mirrors the story Kubo tells at the beginning of the film. It takes Joseph Campbell's Hero's Journey structure (which, admittedly, feels tired) and finds an ethos in it that makes Kubo's journey far more meaningful than just defeating a doomsday villain, and provides an ending of hope, even without true perfection. It runs with the idea of the Hero's Journey as a cultural touchstone (however problematic) and finds the heart to it.

 

I will admit that the two middle action scenes work better as showcases of artistry than storytelling, but the film shines brightest in its slowest, more contemplative moments. Watching Kubo connect his two accomplices on his journey with his own parents (even though the connection shouldn't have been portrayed as a twist - not that it really was, but I saw it coming from a mile away) gives the movie's themes its sharpest depth.

 

This is about cherishing memories, building stories, and embracing those you share your story with. 

 

A-

 

However, I definitely understand the concerns about the mainly white cast. It's not as egregious as, say, Gods of Egypt or Pan, but there's definitely good reason to call Laika out on it.

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Kubo and the Two Strings is a mixed bag. You can tell the film meant a lot to Knight but one has to wonder why. The story is interesting, sure, but when it boils down to it, the characters are forgettable archetypes. The dialogue is consistently clunky, which is the film's biggest issue. The animation is absolutely gorgeous though, constantly impressing in design and fluidity. The voice cast works well, with Theron and Mara being highlights, but once again, the rest can fall into forgettable territory as well. This may seem like a generic review, but unfortunately it fits Kubo and the Two Strings, which fails to be an entirely compelling animated film, despite being worth seeing just for the stop-motion animation. C+

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Incredible how Laika is unable to get the story right. Kubo begins as the most promising of their offerings, mature and unique, but descends rather quickly to a more conventional territory as the plot starts to move, culminating with an uppsetingly cliche and juvenile ending, which includes a "don't disturb the order" villain transforming himself into a giant lizard for climax purposes and message verbalizations.

 

Not a bad film, though. Its direction is impeccable, succeeds in making it grand and/or intimate when it needs to be. Action, at least early sequences, surprisingly causes impact. Visuals are a work of art, breathtaking really. And it's mostly free from the hyperactiveness that plagues children's movies today.

 

Enjoyable, but too artsy for kids and too simple minded for grown ups.

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On 23/08/2016 at 0:32 PM, DAJK said:

2. The main villain's motivation was dumb/not very well explained. From what I understood, the grandfather wanted Kubo's second eye so that... Kubo could come live with him? I get that he was a tyrant and was probably doing a bunch of bad things, and that he had attempted to have Kubo's father killed. But... why? Why was he like this? His defeat was also pretty quick, but that didn't bother me too much.

He had disdain and contempt for mortals and their imperfections. His daughter abandoned him for one of these inferior creatures, a man who had already pissed him off by stealing the shiny armor and sword. Kubo was a result of that relationship and refused to join his grandparent, which Moon King took as an insult.

 

"why are you resisting? Just to struggle another day?" the evil sister said to monkey while they were fighting in the boat.

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Astonishingly beautiful set pieces in a story that doesn't really make sense. Contrivances come at such a rabid pace in the third act that I couldn't help but raise an eyebrow. Still, for the middle there, I was enchanted. For some reason, I was tearing up at the end, but the resolution of Kubo and his Grandfather's conflict left me unsatisfied. The comedy beats are lifted straight from the Disney/Dreamworks playbook as well.

 

And putting "making of" footage in the credits is a crass ego-trip. What the fuck?

 

But overall, this is a solid B.

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On 11/24/2016 at 3:31 AM, Goffe said:

Incredible how Laika is unable to get the story right. Kubo begins as the most promising of their offerings, mature and unique, but descends rather quickly to a more conventional territory as the plot starts to move, culminating with an uppsetingly cliche and juvenile ending, which includes a "don't disturb the order" villain transforming himself into a giant lizard for climax purposes and message verbalizations.

 

Not a bad film, though. Its direction is impeccable, succeeds in making it grand and/or intimate when it needs to be. Action, at least early sequences, surprisingly causes impact. Visuals are a work of art, breathtaking really. And it's mostly free from the hyperactiveness that plagues children's movies today.

 

Enjoyable, but too artsy for kids and too simple minded for grown ups.

I thought the first minutes were the most conventional. What with the cliche of the elderly woman who acts like an immature child filling the comic relief role, among other things.

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14 minutes ago, cannastop said:

I thought the first minutes were the most conventional. What with the cliche of the elderly woman who acts like an immature child filling the comic relief role, among other things.

yes, I rolled my eyes out of my head every time she appeared. A sign of what was to come I guess.  

 

But the elderly was far from the narrative focus, so I can forgive it, especially since there was one great thing to offset that.

Edited by Goffe
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3 minutes ago, Goffe said:

yes, I rolled my eyes out of my head every time she appeared. A sign of what was to come I guess.  

 

But the elderly was far from the narrative focus, so I can forgive it, especially since there was one great thing to offset that.

What one great thing? The art direction?

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54 minutes ago, cannastop said:

What one great thing? The art direction?

lol no. it was kubo relationship with his mother and the way they handled the alzheimer like disease, it was treated with a sobriety rarely seen in animated films.

Edited by Goffe
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Can't believe I haven't reviewed this film.  Better late than never:

 

Kubo and the Two Strings is an absolutely gorgeous film that may falter from plot hiccups, but makes up for said shortcomings by delivering an astonishingly emotion-packed story about memories, creating your own stories, family, love, compassion, and forgiveness.

 

The beginning of Kubo and the Two Strings was the most emotionally resonant personally: Kubo's relationship with her mother, the quiet moments in between, the village scene to contrast from the beginning, and the appearance of the sisters all worked in tandem to create suspense, curiosity, and had my attention gripped.  The middle was the second strongest part as it was action packed, had brilliant animation, and the story progressed in a smooth manner.  (Monkey and Beetle had me laughing my a** off, especially Monkey.)  The weakest parts of the film were the climax and the resolution: the story became blotted and a little conventional with the Grandfather turning into a giant lizard/worm hybrid and Kubo using his magical prowess to fend him of being a little left-field.  However, the final package was so overwhelmingly outstanding and the movie had me invested visually and emotionally by that point that I couldn't care less.  

 

The film in and of itself is simply stunning and deserves the awards its earned.  Between Kubo, Your Name, and ZOOTOPIA, 2016 marks yet another high calibre in animation.  

 

A

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