Review of Kubo and the Two Strings (2016) by Maxkonge — 19 Oct 2018

Kubo and the two strings offer an odd if not beautiful viewing experience that both hits home and misses some great opportunities. The marketing alone showcases most of what is so great about this film; the soundtrack, the voice acting and the animation is all done to perfection.

If you can enjoy a movie for its visual presentation alone, this can possibly be considered one of the most enjoyable films ever made. Where the film falls short for me is in the overall storyboarding, the themes it tries to tell and the exposition.

The movie establishes early on that the use of origami and Kubo's magical guitar can be used to tell stories and yet we only see this being used effectively once. Other times we have odd and moment-breaking exposition during action sequences, that could have been used so much better in earlier scenes involving Kubo's magic.

The twists and turns of this movie also appears out of nowhere with no hinting or foundation for such twists earlier in the movie. The story sort of follows the typical quirky adventure beat, without being smart about laying the foundation for the bits in the second and third act that could have had a much stronger impact.

It's a shame, because the story and themes of this movie are well-intended, if not a bit rough in the finished product. All in all Kubo and the two strings is a good watch, that effectively relies on its animation and visual storytelling.

The logic and structure of the story is excused by the adventure which is presented, possibly making the movie a spectacular watch for someone less critical than myself.