Kubo And The Two Strings
26th September 2016
The latest film from Laika Studios is a Western take on Japanese culture
Kubo And Two Strings is the story of a boy (the titular Kubo) questing to find a legendary suit of armour.
It features an A-list supporting voice cast (Charlize Theron, Matthew McConaughey, Ralph Fiennes) as well as Art Parkinson (Rickon Stark, Game of Thrones) as Kubo.
The fourth feature film by Laika studios (Coraline, Paranorman) features their signature mix of stop motion and CGI, creating a stunning animated world inspired by Japanese culture and folklore.
Quirky and charming in the best way, Kubo And Two Strings is ultimately a coming of age of story full of magic and wonder.
Despite certain predictable elements of the plot – it is a children’s film after all – Laika prove that they aren’t afraid to give a family film an emotional wallop. Nor is it lacking in Nightmare Fuel, thanks to Rooney Mara’s deliciously creepy antagonists.
That’s not to say that Kubo is without its humour, though, following in the footsteps of many a classic animated film.
But it just goes to show that smaller animation studios can create far more unique films than animation behemoths like Disney. And ultimately helping it avoid the saccharine ending that Disney would have probably given it.
And Regina Spektor’s fantastic cover of My Guitar Gently weeps which accompanies the credits just caps off an already great film.
You can also catch the Spark Film Show’s review on YouTube.
