Scanialara You won't be disappointed!

HomeyTao For having a relatively low budget, the film's style and overall art direction are immensely impressive.

Abbigail Bush what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.

Loui Blair It's a feast for the eyes. But what really makes this dramedy work is the acting.

pramsalim People associate animation movies with Disney. They are the pioneer of animation movies, I won't take away a credit where credit is due. However, their computer animated cartoons aren't the only type of animation. Studio Ghibli with their superb hand-drawn animation has garnered quite a few followers over the course of its lifetime, they stayed true to their traditional brand of animation up until their temporary halt in 2014. One studio has embraced one of the oldest type of animation as their distinctive type of animation, which is stop-motion. That studio is Laika Entertainment, they have produced some of the most well known stop-motions in recent years. Coraline, Paranorman and The Boxtrolls are the movies that they have produced. They were decent, but I can understand why they weren't as well known as some of the Pixar movies. On 2016 however, I think they have produced their magnum opus.Kubo and the Two Strings tells the journey of Kubo, a young boy who lives a peaceful yet mysterious life. When he accidentally summoned a vengeful spirit however, he will embark on a quest that will explain his past.This movie is a fantasy movie. However, those who watch fantasy movies and expect a tight logical sense will find no satisfaction here. The movie will suddenly throw some bizzare magic and give no explanation whatsoever about the origins of that magic. If you get trapped in trying to figure out how it happened then I'm afraid you could miss out on it's wonder. I think in order to fully immerse yourself in the world of Kubo, you just need to let go, and fantasize.What I love most about this movie is the depth that this movie posess. It has a story that is similar to that of a fairy tale, but when a fairy tale usually tackles the theme of virtues such as honesty, friendship and perseverance, Kubo and the Two Strings tells a story about life, death and how each one brings all the more meaning to the other half. The movie treats these topics with such maturity that I certainly didn't expect from a family movie. Much like Coco, Pixar's 2017 movie, it handles such heavy topics with love and humor, making a digestable piece of cinema that could be appreciated by the whole generation and perhaps, the generations to come. This movie has a message that really resonated with me. I often have thoughts about mortality and death in general, not because I crave for it, mind you. In fact, the concept of it is terrifying for me. I always view death as this bottomless void that isolates you with its loneliness. This movie opened my mind into a whole new perspective on death, a perspective that doesn't view it as a defeat, but rather as a happy ending.

jackgdemoss Kubo was the first fully Claymation film I have scene, and it was fantastic to see. I am a huge fan of the art style and want so much more of it. The story was charming, and even exceptionally enthralling for the first half of the film, but slows to a halt during Act III, crippling its momentum. The art style alone makes this movie worth watching, and I will see anything that took this much work and artistic talent on the big screen in coming years.

Neil Welch Kubo, gifted with magical abilities and greatly taken with storytelling, discovers that his past (in which his grandfather and his mother's two wicked sisters stole one of his eyes) is catching up with his present. And so he embarks on a journey to find his salvation, accompanied by a monkey and an amnesiac samurai beetle.There is quite a lot of story here and, although it purports to be a film for youngsters, there is actually much here for adults. I enjoyed the story, which ventured into some unexpected places and was possibly a little dark and scary for the very young (the sisters are creepy, and some unhappy things happen to various characters). I particularly liked the ending, which wrapped up the emotional side of things well - this film does have some very emotional moments in it, so be prepared for some surreptitious eye-wiping - while not going for the full Disneyfied happy ending.Visually, while I would criticise it for being quite dark a lot of the time, making 3D viewing especially troublesome (and the 3D is quite good), the design is gorgeous and the animation - stop-frame, though it is difficult to believe that the water work is not CGI - is superb.The voice work is outstanding. Art Parkinson as Kubo effortlessly holds centre stage throughout, but Charlize Theron as Monkey and Matthew McConaughey as Beetle are superb. You appreciate that there is a reason why they are Oscar winners when they can perform like this with just their voices.This film is exciting, involving, emotional, and hugely effectively visually and soundwise. Go and see it.

isaiahanimal Let me start out by saying I thought this movie was okay. It got great reviews, and I really don't understand it. It's not like a movie like Sing where the only reason it got decent reviews was because it was inoffensive and "relatable", but it still is over-hyped.However, I must admit the animation is breathtaking. Clear effort was thrown into making this movie as stunning as possible, and it was worth it. It takes much effort for this kind of animation to look this good, and it payed off.However, where this film runs into its problems is the script. The script for this film has some creative ideas and I feel there is something great that you can make from this, but it feels lazy and underdeveloped. I didn't care for Kubo at all. I thought he was a bland, very "meh" character. He had a good motivation for what he was doing, but I didn't feel anything for him. The same can be said about the other two main characters, Beetle and Monkey. They each have their moments of charisma and likability, but they take them in a very predictable and bland direction that I was honestly frustrated by.So this is the definition of an over-hyped film. I think it got this level of great reviews because of the studio not being Disney and it having a great concept. Other than that, I don't understand the praise. It has sparks of potential and some terrific moments, but it overall comes off as an everyday forgettable movie. It's on Netflix, so if you're curious, check it out, but don't expect anything too great.