Kubo and the Two Strings is the first film by Laika animation studio I’ve actually seen. Their other films passed me by and I never bothered to go back. Kubo makes me want to go back, because this outstanding stop motion film is not only a marvel of animation, it’s also a surprisingly mature story in ways uncommon to many Western animated films.

Kubo and the Two Strings tells the story of Kubo, a boy who lost an eye as a baby and spends his days entertaining the village with music and storytelling. At night he cares for his mother, who’s losing her mind to a dementia-like illness. One day, agents of Kubo’s villainous grandfather return to the village to steal his other eye. This whisks him away on a fantastical adventure to find a fabled relic that will protect him.

So before we dive into the meat of this thing, let me just gush over the animation a while. The opening narration demands of the audience: “If you must blink, do it now.” Sound advice, because once the first scene explodes onto the screen you won’t want to miss a second.

This film looks unlike anything I’ve ever seen. When I last wrote about Western animated films, I said that I fail to be impressed by animation quality anymore. That’s because quality of CGI really is just a matter of money. What interests me is creativity in what the studio chooses to animate. This is not the case with Kubo because of the animation technique.

Kubo and the Two Strings is a stop motion film. I grew up watching classics like Aardman’s Wallace and Gromit short films, but since then features like Fantastic Mr Fox and Anomalisa have used the style to great effect. Kubo is in a different league. You almost forget that it’s stop motion half an hour in, as swarms of origami birds fly over a rippling ocean while samurai engage in epic duels. I’m really not overstating things here – Kubo will go down as a milestone in animated film along with the likes of Toy Story and Akira.

But there’s much more than the animation to love about Kubo. This is an unusually dark and respectful film. In terms of its story, it views more like an anime feature. By that I’m not talking about big eyes and skimpily-clad school girls. Anime features have a tendency to respect their audience (especially young audience) by rooting around in some mature ideas without spelling everything out.

This was so refreshing, because as much as I’ve loved Disney Animation Studios (especially Zootropolis) these last few years, they’ll never go to any dark places. Kubo proves that it’s possible. And I’m not saying that Kubo is Requiem for a Dream or anything, but the villains are very sinister and many of their action sequences are frightening. They won’t scare the life out of children, but they’ll certainly give them the chills.

My only issue with the villain was that we didn’t quite see enough of him. The build-up to him effectively raises tension but, for me at least, the payoff wasn’t quite there. A shame, given that this is a film about a kid on the run from his own grandfather. Perhaps it won’t be a big issue on repeat viewings.

My main snag with Kubo is, well, Kubo himself. He just isn’t the most compelling protagonist. It’s a classic case of the plot happening to the character, rather than the character driving the plot. Yes there are things beyond his control, and yes he does grow over the course of the story, but much of the time he isn’t conflicted and as a result, isn’t really that memorable.

Aside from those niggles, I had a great time with Kubo and the Two Strings. It’s a beautiful wonder of animation and editing that bewilders me, accompanied by an awesome, immersive score. And with its powerful and brave story that isn’t afraid to go dark and somber in places, it’s one of the more mature animated films I’ve seen outside the world of anime. I can’t wait to go back and check out the rest of Laika’s catalogue, and to see what they’ll do next.

9-8

(GRADES: Both are from 0 to 10. The left is an objective score based on artistic merit, the right is my personal enjoyment.)

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