Kubo: Late Blog, Worth the Wait Film!

           Ever since I heard my animator friends talk about Kubo and the Two Strings and how excited they were to see it, I have wanted to watch it. I could not afford to go to the theater when it was still in theaters, so I did not get to see it right away. However, my friend finally got it on DVD and we were able to watch it! I was blown away by the imagery!!! It was all so beautiful and breath taking. The real kicker is when my friend told me that it was a stop-motion film. I had never seen a stop-motion film that looked so fluid. Besides the incredible talent that was involved in telling the story, the story itself was so engaging. The focus on family, good overcoming evil, and defending our values was very evident and worth watching. It was also really neat watching there be a build up of the story talking about the three pieces of armor, and then none of the pieces be involved in the climax of the film. It really came down to Kubo relying on his family in the most original way! Over all, it was a joy visually and story wise. I regret not being able to see it earlier.

kubo and the two strings

A young boy named Kubo who lived with mother all his life, can must not go out when the moon rises, the number one rule, then that rule was broken. his now  must locate a magical suit of armor worn by his late father in order to defeat a vengeful spirit from the past, the Moon God and Kubo's grandfather. with a team up with monkey, who was a toy brought to life by Kubo's mother and as well has her soul when he finds out later, and then Beetle, a giant beetle man, but is one of  Kubo's Father's warrior,who was cursed and with little memory, or is he what he said to be. they must save Kubo and the world.

Kubo and the Two Strings - Animation at its finest

I finally have gained up enough courage to branch out of my "movie box" and watch an animation film that was recommend in class.  I personally do not enjoy many animation films, but I was pleasantly surprised with how well this stop-motion animation film set with me.  This film did a great job with the flow of the story and keeping its audiences attention.  The plot itself was a bit cliche because of the quest for three items that he had to retrieve.  However, the images of the characters were well-developed, and I thoroughly enjoyed their personalities too.  My favorite character in the movie, despite popular opinion, would have to be the monkey played by Charlize Theron because of her comedic and strong display of her persona.  The ending was very well done, and I thought that it brought out the moral of the story perfectly.  We should all give each other a second chance at life because God did that for us through his unconditional love.  This is what family really is all about and this animation film fits into that statement perfectly.  I would highly recommend this film to anyone that has spare time and is up for a shockingly unique film.

Kubo

Let me just start by saying the art for this movie is absolutely beautiful. The stop motion was flawless and I love how delicate the hair was and the wind like effects they manged to recreate were so life-like. I love the skeleton dude and how it could have so much detailed movement and flow so smoothly and how they juggled all the different characters fighting and jumping around. the two evil sisters were really creepy, but I like how they made it so you could tell they were wearing  mask, but it kept you kinda guessing even though they were stop motion so it was literally faces they used. I was a bit confused on the significance of the monkey and the beetle as animals in the Asian culture. I wasn't quite sure why those particular animals were chosen to represent Kubo's parents. When I was watching this movie, it was almost difficult to focus on the actual story because the images were so mesmerizing. I did, however, notice theme between being human  and being "more than." It was calling out society and their praise of perfection, rather than embracing what makes us different and imperfect and human and seeing the beauty in that. This beauty in it's purest form is love. I loved how at the end Kubo's grandfather was given a chance to start over and become a new better person, and the forgiveness and grace he receives from the towns people despite his past.

"Kubo and the Two Strings"

LAIKA's "Kubo and the Two Strings" is an awe inspiring stop-motion animation adventure set in a colorful Japan. The endearingly quirky and kindhearted Kubo has his relatively quiet world turned upside down when he unintentionally summons the spirit of a relative who stirs up an old blood feud.

Eager to escape, Kubo teams up with Monkey and Beetle in an attempt to save his family and figure out what happened to his dead father, the most incredible samurai warrior the world had ever seen.

With the help of his fantastical musical instrument, Kubo goes toe to toe with evil twin sisters, a moon king, underwater eyeballs, and a giant skeletal creature. Upon overcoming all of these obstacles, Kubo finds his purpose, discovers his family's profound legacy, and reunites his parents.

The premise of Kubo was, at first, hard for me to understand. However, once I picked up on what was going down, the storyline flowed fluidly and I found myself being carried away by the gorgeous, seamless stop-motion. This film's crew out did themselves as they created 48 million possible facial expressions for Kubo and a 16 foot tall puppet to play the skeleton monster. 

"Kubo and the Two Strings" was a joy to watch and the artistry behind it was impeccable.