Well here’s quite the mixed report card – 10/10 for style. 10/10 for animation. 4/10 for letting me know what the HELL is going on. Ooooo, and this could have been the kind of film people talk about for years. It still might be. But when they talk, odds are they aren’t going to bring up the plot.
A cruciverbalists’ new best friend, Kubo (voice of Art Parkinson) is about as close to being an orphan as one can be without actually getting there. The one-eyed, mop-haired Kubo lives atop a cliff with what’s left of his mother. She was clearly broken by the flashback at the start of the film and now fades in and out of reality. The kid entertains himself by going to town and putting on the same damn puppet show every day. Basically what happens is Kubo strolls into the main square, pulls out his … balalikalute (?) – actually, Wikipedia tells me it’s a “shamisen,” a three-stringed Japanese musical instrument. Thank you Wikipedia. Now, can you explain why the film is entitled “Kubo and the Two Strings” when he plays a magical instrument that clearly has three? – anyhoo, as soon as Kubo grips his magic guitar pick, wonderment happens: little pieces of paper pull themselves out of his bag and fold themselves into the players of his story … and unlike my origami skills, these pieces never screw it up somewhere. Kubo strums and narrates while the papers act out his tale. Sources say Kubo is a fab storyteller, but has a lousy time with endings – what is he, the Japanese Stephen King?
Mom (Charlize Theron) warns Kubo not to stay out nights, cuz his grandfather moon and his aunts are gonna take his other eye. This seems like the kind of f***ed up thing parents tell children to get them to behave, except these don’t usually involve threats from family members. But whaddaya know? Kubo stays past dark one night and dudes really do come after him … so naturally, Kubo needs to protect himself with three sacred artifacts – the sword of shame, the breastplate of shame and the helmet … of shame. I dunno. Is this a quest or a flee situation? Because both really doesn’t work. But hey, you can’t deny how beautiful the film looks.
I can’t even describe Act II at all without giving away the three or four things I understood about Kubo and the Two Strings. Yeah, there’s a lot of sword ‘n’ sorcery here, and most children will easily see past the elusive plot clarity to get to the occasionally conclusive battle sequences. Far as I’m
concerned, you gotta love a guy who brings a banjo to a knife fight. “Whatchoo got, homes? Samurai sword? You done asked for it now. Gonna whip this thing out and you will know paper cut pain like you have never known. God help you if I have a lemon on me.”
The unique feel and look of Kubo and the Two Strings actually gives it a nod over the Disneys for animated film of the year; I imagine many voters are tired of Disney and Pixar and will want to support something both different and defensible. I won’t go that far, but I won’t actively root against Kubo, either.
In Japan, paper folds like a knife
Using origami to solve personal strife
Readers take stock
If scissors, paper, rock
Gimme the points if it means my life
Rated PG, 101 Minutes
D: Travis Knight
W: Marc Haimes and Chris Butler
Genre: Confusing your child
Type of person most likely to enjoy this film: Fans of animation
Type of person least likely to enjoy this film: Small, confused and terrified children
