Kubo and the Two Strings (2016)

Kubo and the Two Strings (PG)

Often there are complaints that nothing original is being made in Hollywood.  That animation is only used to cater to children in America and not adults, and that the craft and artistry must now be rendered in a computer to be relevant.

Kubo and the Two Strings proves all this wrong, and yet it's looming financial failure may prove them right.

Produced by stop-motion animation film studio Laika (Paranorman, The Box Trolls, Coraline) and first time director Travis Knight, Kubo tells a Japanese-like folk story of a young man who is being hunted by his own grandfather, and how only the spirits of his parents are able to protect him.  Filled with stunning stop motion photography, top tier character studies (their faces alone achieve a humanity and expression range rarely seen in animation), fluid motion and action scenes to compare with most of Hollywood.  This is not kids fare, in fact this show is aimed squarely at their parents, and some of the themes (death, memories of the departed, family in-fighting) might be a bit much for younger viewers.  One could compare it favorably to Studio Ghibli breakout Princess Mononoke, at least in audacity and not talking down to it's audience.  And yet unlike Mononoke, Kubo has to fit in that PG box (unlike it's brethren raunchy tube meet competition, Sausage Party (R) just a few weeks earlier) because that is what is assumed.

A talking monkey, a stag beetle samurai, a boat made out of leaves, a Giant skeleton with swords for hair, these are but a few of the inventive and wonderful adventures leading up to Kubo's confrontation with his grandfather.  Not since Lord of the Rings was adapted has magic been depicted as real and not just some science trick of the silver screen.  In Kubo the magic is story telling, folding ordinary paper into living origami, wearing your fathers armor and solving a puzzle.  It is a burst of something new among the same old reboots and retellings, and on top of that it is about something that has been missing in our lives, about memories of loved ones and courage and music and art.  It is pure fantasy without the science fiction.

However, there is a bit of a reservation surrounding the whole project.  If it wasn't drawn by the hand of Hokusai, it is an imitation Hokusai, no matter how good it looks.  Laika's last outing, The Boxtrolls, tried to be as British as possible for an American studio.  The same goes here, what with George Takei lending a "OH MY" and various other Japanese voices.  This appears to be a trend with them, and is a bit of a knock.  Instead of adapting an existing Japanese folk tale, they have written their own and crammed as much Nippon-ish as their writers knew how, and therefore comes across as a little fake.  Matthew McConaughey is great as the beetle warrior, his southern drawl has been repressed and represents alot of humor to the film.  However he is an American actor, likewise Charlize Theron who plays the mother is a great dramatic credit to the film but is also not Japanese, even as she plays one.  Perhaps an alternate fantasy setting would have been more appropriate, there are no cries about cultural appropriation from the elves.

These social shivers aside, just as entertainment Kubo is fantastic, filled to the brim with ideas, art, music and craftsmanship steeped in action fantasy, and deserves far greater than it will receive (a nomination at least!).  However, for Kubo and for us, the memories may prove stronger than it ills. One hopes it will reach an ever larger audience in it's life, as those of us who seek out the hidden treasures of the world discover and share it.

9 Bowls of Whale Soup out of 10 (OUTSTANDING)