One of the most original movies of the year, Kubo and the Two Strings is also one of the best so far. Combining intelligent storytelling with impressive artwork, the film transports us to a fantasy world that feels like pure escapism until we realize that it has stolen our hearts. Appropriately funny and surprisingly sad, it re-spins mythic tropes into fabulous new shapes, not the least of which is its ancient Japanese setting. I'd compare it favorably to The Book of Life, another example of dazzling animation and cultural variation; whereas the latter felt hackneyed and hurried, the former is fresh and focused.
An explanation of the plot would only make the film feel trite, so we'll avoid that here. We can, however, note the flawless combination of magic and adventure and heart and fun. It's an optimistic tale, wherein our young hero comes of age and into his own, battling evils both from beyond the world and within his own soul. As he seeks to reclaim his past and his family, he is joined by mysterious animal companions. As in most myths, the number three circles around in many forms here: three travelers (or, if you count the magical origami man, three companions) seek three pieces of armor hidden in three different tests, all while battling the three villains who seek to stop him. Get the idea? By the time Kubo is done, he has proven himself to be a classic hero, and he has learned more about family, friends, past and future, and life and death than he probably ever expected.
More than all that, the film is a consummate work of art. Kubo is himself a storyteller, and in an early scene we see him use his magic to entertain the townspeople. With his magic stringed instrument (forgive my ignorance, but is it a guitar?) he enchants his colored paper to fold itself into impossible origami figures and enact his tale. Little do we know at the time that his story is what we'll be watching for the next hour and a half.
Incredible visuals, rapturous music, and fun characters, however, don't do much if the story doesn't work. Here, thankfully, it does, and with such powerful effect that by the end there were plenty of leaky eyes in the theater. For all the film's entertaining optimism, it's also one of the darker animated pictures I've ever seen. You may want to think twice before taking a young child to see it. Apart from the rather frightening monsters and villains (those twin sisters in kabuki masks are terrifying), the film deals frankly with death, and we see it more than once on screen. Sure, it's not exploitative or gory, but by the final, resonant image, I felt pretty exhausted.
**
A final note. I've been hearing a lot lately about racial/ethnic casting, and about how films are whitewashed and culturally inaccurate and so forth. There's a lot to say in all that, and it's all important. Period.
AND...we should all be a little more mindful about staying consistent with our opinions on these matters. The other day, I saw someone ranting on social media about the casting of Tilda Swinton as the Ancient One in the upcoming Doctor Strange, a casting choice that raises some controversy due to the character sometimes portrayed as an eastern Asian man. I disagree with his argument (because the Ancient One doesn't have to be just one incarnation, per the comics), but I wasn't going to argue his impassioned, relevant ideas.
However, in the same post, he praised Kubo (and, for that matter, The Book of Life) for bringing attention in a mainstream American film to a different cultural aesthetic and artistic awareness. While I would agree with that on purely visual terms, we have to talk about the casting here too. Kubo features Matthew McConaughey, Charlize Theron, Rooney Mara, and Ralph Fiennes. The Book of Life featured Channing Tatum and Ron Perlman. Sure, other characters are played by more appropriate actors, but this is the main cast. And he was praising these films and damning the other.
If we're going to make any kind of headway in this sticky, contentious issue, it would behoove all of us to more carefully consider the things we say and the implications of our ideas.
IMDb: Kubo and the Two Strings
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