Kubo and the Two Strings

As a fan of stop-motion animation such as Coraline, Paranorman, Wallace and Gromit, etc., I have been excited for the next creation from Laika Studio: Kubo and the Two Strings. It looked wonderfully animated, interesting characters, and some sweet action. Opening weekend, I went in with an open mind and at the end left fully satisfied from the experience.

Plot: The story has a good amount of material with the story and paces itself pretty well. It is pretty easy to follow with what is happening throughout the movie the deeper it gets. It's full of great emotional beats as well as some nice dark pieces for a stop-motion animated family movie. And the plot twists provided in the story add more tension and weight to it. Overall the plot works very well with what it gives us.

Characters: The main characters are wonderful to watch as they interact with each other. Kubo is learning throughout his journey with his two guardians, Monkey and Beetle. The best aspects of each character is shown once they are presented with challenges, both physical and emotional, that they must overcome. The voice acting for the characters involved is spot on to the point where Monkey, voiced by Charlize Theron, almost steals the show. Matthew McConaughey is knocks it out of the park as well by his banter and connections with Kubo and Monkey. As for Kubo, he has a great voice actor, and his character is very likable with how he can find ways to have fun with his powers while also maturing in his quest to collect the armor pieces.

Action: As far as stop motion movies are concerned, I haven't seen sword fighting action this awesome since Pirates! Band of Misfits. It isn't overloaded with too much action sequences as one might think. It has a great balance of building up the story and characters with enough room for action to go around. With what I have seen in the movie, it can get fast and intense between two characters and their swords. And even some humor can find it's way into one of the fights. As it gets near the end, the action gets more tense and epic thanks to the advancing technology that is stop motion.

Overall Consensus: Kubo and the Two Strings joins the best stop motion movies with an emotionally effective story, wonderful animation, great characters, and intense sword fighting action in ancient Japan. ⭑⭑⭑⭑⭑ 🍿

Possible reasons to go watch it: You enjoy watching stop motion movies such as Coraline, Paranorman, The Nightmare Before Christmas, etc. You are a fan of either Matthew McConaughey or Charlize Theron and like hearing their voices. You like watching movies that take place in Ancient Japan. You are looking for a wonderful family movie that's actually enjoyable to watch. You like having some emotional moments in a family movie. You enjoy movies with a balance of humor, story, and action.

Possible reasons to avoid it: You aren't interested in stop motion movies. You don't like listening to Matthew McConaughey's voice. You aren't in the mood for family movies. You would prefer more action and less dialogue.