Review of Kubo and the Two Strings (2016) by Michael H — 21 Sep 2016

Now that I've had a night to process that piece of cinema art I saw last night and am able to put into words my review, here it goes. Kubo and the Two Strings was, by far, the best animated movie I've seen in a very long time.

The ending, which I will not give away because I want you to see it yourself, hit me so hard emotionally that I had to really contain myself not to utterly break down at it's beauty. It is a movie that I think everyone that has lost someone dear to them should see and it is a gorgeous teaching tool for children about loss, and grief and what we do with the memories of the loved ones we've lost.

Laika studios has a way of making movies that really focus on the lives of the children and almost make the adults seem more like caricatures to drive home the difference between a child's view and the adults view.

It struck me right at the beginning that the adults were not designed to be larger than life caricatures of themselves which set the tone that Kubo's story was not going to poke fun at adults not understanding this time.

It drove home how adult his journey was and lent a certain aspect that children and adults lose things equally and they share in the remembrance of those loved ones as equals. Really, take your children to see this movie if they've lost a grandparent, parent, friend, or pet because it was such a touching display of what we do with the stories that are left behind.