Kubo and the Two Strings movie review - "If you must blink, even for a second, do so now."

Laika Studios has been a hit-or-miss for me, as has stop-motion animation. Coraline and Paranorman are some of the best underground classics of our generation of animation, not succumbing to the common animation tropes and telling their stories in a timeless, engaging manner with stylish animation that only belonged in the stop-motion realm. Their previous outing, Boxtrolls, however, was an adequate disappointment, holding dull, not-so-compelling characters and so-so animation, and for the longest time, I thought the missing element was superb animation director/producer Henry Selick, so when I heard that the studio was putting out another film without him, I didn't know how to feel about it. Needless to say, though, I was caught off guard; Kubo and the Two Strings is not only one of the greatest animated films of all time, let alone the biggest stand-out of this year (animated or otherwise), but it's easily the most viscerally and engagingly told stories put to film I have seen in years.

The film follows a young boy named Kubo, who is known for his magical abilities to bring oragami figures to life to tell stories about an ancient samurai. However, he finds out later on that he's being hunted by a moon spirit from his past who is causing havoc in the world, and through various circumstances, he has to go out on a journey, with the help of a talking monkey and a samurai dressed as a beetle, to find three items that can help him defeat these spirits and bring peace back to the world.

The quote in this blog's title is the very first quote in the movie, and I can honestly say that quote doesn't lie. The film does such a great job telling its story visually, developing its characters through actions and facial expressions and only exposing necessary plot elements through dialogue, utilizing colors and cinematography for its visceral effect, and making sure that every plot element counts in the end, that it's literally a case where every frame counts. All of this is told through gorgeous animation as well. I could not imagine this film being another run-of-the-mill CG animated flick; it's a story that could only be told in the form of stop-motion.

The film does a great job of getting its audience invested in its characters as well. Kubo keeps a good balance between being responsible and noble enough that you could entrust him with the quest that has been placed in front of him, but not so "goody-two-shoes" that he's unbelievable as the young one that he is. The supporting characters add much to the film as well. The monkey plays the role of a protective guardian/adviser exceptionally well while also having enough snarky moments to add some fun to her role, while the Beetle.... Well, he's just hilarious (which is, if I remember correctly, a first for Matthew McConaughey).

On the whole, Laika Studios has knocked it out of the park for the first time since Paranorman with Kubo. It's easily one of the most emotionally powerful animated flicks out there, and it deserves recognition as one of the greats of its genre. Don't miss it!

My rating: