Kubo e as Cordas Mágicas

A young boy named Kubo must locate a magical suit of armor worn by his late father in order to defeat a vengeful spirit from the past.

For Best Animated Film of 2016, there seems to be two schools of thought: either "Zootopia" or "Kubo". The former has so far been winning the most awards, and will probably win the Oscar. But "Kubo" has a strong following, with some saying it is not only the best animated film, but one of the best films of the year in any genre.

I love a good underdog, but in this case my sympathies lie with "Zootopia". The creators there have crafted an entire world, and it is not only very enjoyable, but lends itself to any number of sequels with other characters. It is a rich, dense landscape. "Kubo", on the other hand, is a very shallow, one-dimensional story. A boy goes looking for armor, and without even knowing what direction to go, he stumbles over it almost immediately. There is no deep conception of character or plot, everything just falls into place. For me, that really makes the film lacking and does not make me want to take repeat trips.

However, "Kubo" is also nominated for Best Visual Effects. And on that note, I would love to see it win. I don't personally know the challenges of traditional animation versus computer animation versus stop motion. But, I do see the finished product here and how flawless it looks. Unlike the "classic" stop motion (such as "King Kong"), the movements are seamless. I can't even fathom the amount of minuscule adjustments that have to be made.

Although "Zootopia" is a clear favorite for Best Animated Feature (in my opinion), by all means give "Kubo" the Best Visual Effects and honor these folks for the hard work and countless hours it must have taken.

"Kubo and the Two Strings" is a hard movie to explain. There is a story in it and the adventure is grand and fun, but I can't place it into a category of traditional storytelling. The themes of the film are the values of memories and how we truly can never forget people that we lose throughout our lifetime. Very mature themes that are handled with such finesse and creativity that I can't say I have seen anything like it before. Even when you as the audience know where the story is headed, the film surprises you with the delivery and you actually grow and learn with the characters.

The strength of the film is the pure visceral experience it provides. The visuals and sound had a layer of depth and drama that you feel in your inner core. It is more of an experience than it is a movie that you watch. Throughout the film, I felt moments of sadness, loss, happiness, horror, fear, and accomplishment. It is a movie that truly raises the bar for animation and it saddens me that many people will not check it out as it is very different from traditional animated films that we are used to seeing from other major animation studios.

So much care and attention went into this film. The world Laika has created is rich with so much history, story, mythos, and culture that even some movies and series that are much longer can't fully create. I felt that the world is living and that magic is truly alive. I love how the character make it feel special that magic exists, but aren't put of by it, when they see it for themselves and have to question the logic.

The characters are fun and lovable, but also brave and dimensional. Not one character felt out of place and they're inclusion felt important. The voice casting is top-notch and I felt like the celebrities actually made an effort. Unlike many big-budget animated productions, The voice actors weren't distracting and added their own layer of charisma that enhanced and drew attention to the characters. Monkey is probably the best character and I feel like she'll be the fan favorite as she's funny, powerful, and a total bada**.

Overall, Laika has produced probably their best animated film to date and that is saying a lot from a studio that produces quality efforts time and time again. "Kubo and the Two Strings" is unlike anything out there and deserves to be seen on the big screen. The animation alone is breathtakingly gorgeous. The beautiful score and music only adds to the complexity of the film. It is probably the best film of 2016 so far and I find it hard to beat. I highly recommend that people check out this highly creative experience.

Those talented folks at LAIKA have done it again. KUBO AND THE TWO STRINGS is not just one of the best animated films of the year, it's one of the best films of the year, period. Not since Pixar's "Up," have death and loss been handled do firmly and delicately. "Kubo" is fun, moving, hopeful, and profound. A terrific story of bravery and acceptance.

Written by Marc Haimes and Chris Butler and directed by LAIKA's own president, Travis Knight, KUBO AND THE TWO STRINGS is set in a fantastical Japan where a one-eyed kid who masters the art of origami and storytelling, Kubo, (voiced by Art Parkinson of "Game Of Thrones") would go out to work to earn money during the day by entertaining audiences in the middle of a market but he comes home right before sundown to tend to his sick mother, it has to be before sundown because at night, his mother's sisters, two evil twins (voice day Oscar nominee Rooney Mara) would try to get Kubo's other eye. The past catches up to them, an old vendetta resurfaces, Kubo must run and join forces with Monkey (voiced by Oscar winner Charlize Theron) and a beetle (voiced by Oscar winner Matthew McConaughey) on a quest to retrieve the helmet, the sword unbreakable and the armor that would prepare Kubo to fight the vengeful Moon King (voiced by Oscar nominee Ralph Fiennes). This quest would unlock Kubo's family mystery and lead him to fulfill his destiny.

I've always appreciated animation, but with stop-motion, it's extra level of appreciation, knowing the extra hard work they put into even just to get a few seconds of shots. It's a level of dedication and discipline that never ceases to blow my mind, that's why I'm a huge fan of LAIKA. Especially with this latest film of theirs, the scale is much bigger, there's a sequence involving a large skeleton giant, your brain starts to wonder as you see that scene just how many hours, how many weeks, how many months did it take for them to make that happen.

This film has action, it has love drama, it has family drama, it has a great sense of humor and it's also about community coming together to help one another. It has its own way of featuring and respecting Japanese art and tradition, but even if you're not too familiar with that particular culture, KUBO resonates much deeper than just the aesthetics. It's a film that's perfect for the whole family. And on top of that, it delicately teaches our young ones about how to grieve in a healthy manner. There's also a twist to the story which I won't spoil for you here. This film is just so beautiful and pristine. Charlize Theron has that commanding voice you would follow to the ends of the earth. And Matthew McConaughey voices Beetle as playful and as proud as Tim Allen did Buzz Lightyear. So it's a combination of outstanding stop motion animation, excellent voice talents, a well-told story and strong characters that make KUBO AND THE TWO STRINGS one of my favorite this year.

-- Rama's Screen --

"Kubo and the Two Strings" is a lovely film...and even more amazing because it was made mostly utilizing stop-motion. It's obvious that the folks from Laika Studio really cared and worked hard to make the film this artistic and pleasing to the eyes.

The story is about a magical boy who has been kept in hiding for many years. It turns out that the child's grandfather is a cruel supernatural being...and the boy's aunts are intent on capturing the boy. To protect him are a snow monkey, a strange samurai/beetle hybrid and an origami miniature soldier.

The story is very strange...with many unusual elements. Relax....and quickly your brain will stop questioning and you can enjoy the strange, otherworldly tale. Incredibly well animated, a delight to the eyes and a nice story all work together to make this a special film...one that adults can enjoy just as much as their kids.

Stop-Motion animation can be a thing of pure beauty. I've been a fan of Laika's previous films (particularly Coraline and ParaNorman to a great extent), and so I really was excited for this. Based on the trailers, it looked like a dazzling experience and I was sure that it would not fail to meet expectations. I was right. There's a real sense of artistry to the film that is missing in a lot of other kids' animated films. It's about family, the power of memory, and longing, and it manages to create some truly memorable, fantastic villains that happen to be both well-written and really terrifying. More than anything, the themes at its core really resonate. This may likely be the best animated film of the year.