Review of Kubo and the Two Strings (2016) by Matthew C — 20 Aug 2017

Alright, so I don't have a ton to say about this movie, but I can safely say that this is my least favorite Laika film. That's not bad at all; as a matter of fact, that's an amazing compliment. I don't think they've made a really bad or below average film. BUT... this movie is definitely not as creative and strange as the other ones put out by Laika.

The voice acting is pretty good, with some big names giving pretty good performances. The animation is awesome as usual, but the action this time didn't quite do it for me. I think that the action isn't fast paced enough to work, so it just feels kind of awkward. The soundtrack isn't all that good either, with some music choices being flat out confusing as to why they're in the middle of an emotional scene. But unfortunately, the writing is also kinda weak. I didn't quite like the progression of events, the plot twists, or some of the dialogue. I also didn't get very emotionally invested in the characters, which is a big problem for a movie.

Honestly, I had an okay time with Kubo, but the storytelling and lack of unique characters was too big to ignore.