❝These are the memories of those we've loved and lost. And if we hold their stories, deep in our hearts... then you will never take them away from us.❞
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This was such a beautiful and touching film with the excellent quality only to be expected of Laika.
From the get-go there was stunning animation, and it quickly set the tone. The plot was explained slowly through watching Kubo's day and the information from his mum's stories. Initially the pace was slow, but after his aunts attacked and the action became ten-fold, the rest of the film passed by so quickly. The ending was very bittersweet, and I cried buckets seeing Kubo finally reunited with both his parents as their true selves. The character designs were gorgeous and moved so fluidly, and the colours were vibrant and jewel-toned. I especially loved the soundtrack and sound design in general: there were a lot of crisp action sounds during the fights, and the score was melancholy and hypnotising.
I really liked the performances of the cast, and Art Parkinson was so good as Kubo. He was perfectly innocent-sounding but also mature beyond his years, and Kubo was a great protagonist. I loved Charlize Theron as Kubo's mum, and I didn't even realise she voiced her until I saw the credits, because she sounded so different when she was Monkey. Beetle was charmingly funny, and Matthew McConaughey was the only correct option to play him. There wasn't much dialogue from the Moon King compared to the other characters, but Ralph Fiennes still did a fantastic job, and his American accent had certainly improved. Rooney Mara was haunting and truly creepy as the twin Moon sisters, and when her voice was overlapped with itself it gave me goosebumps.
Kubo and the Two Strings is severely underrated, but it's a favourite of mine and I hope it gets more of the recognition it deserves.
❝These are the memories of those we've loved and lost. And if we hold their stories, deep in our hearts... then you will never take them away from us.❞
· · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·
This was such a beautiful and touching film with the excellent quality only to be expected of Laika.
From the get-go there was stunning animation, and it quickly set the tone. The plot was explained slowly through watching Kubo's day and the information from his mum's stories. Initially the pace was slow, but after his aunts attacked and the action became ten-fold, the rest of the film passed by so quickly. The ending was very bittersweet, and I cried buckets seeing Kubo finally reunited with both his parents as their true selves. The character designs were gorgeous and moved so fluidly, and the colours were vibrant and jewel-toned. I especially loved the soundtrack and sound design in general: there were a lot of crisp action sounds during the fights, and the score was melancholy and hypnotising.
I really liked the performances of the cast, and Art Parkinson was so good as Kubo. He was perfectly innocent-sounding but also mature beyond his years, and Kubo was a great protagonist. I loved Charlize Theron as Kubo's mum, and I didn't even realise she voiced her until I saw the credits, because she sounded so different when she was Monkey. Beetle was charmingly funny, and Matthew McConaughey was the only correct option to play him. There wasn't much dialogue from the Moon King compared to the other characters, but Ralph Fiennes still did a fantastic job, and his American accent had certainly improved. Rooney Mara was haunting and truly creepy as the twin Moon sisters, and when her voice was overlapped with itself it gave me goosebumps.
Kubo and the Two Strings is severely underrated, but it's a favourite of mine and I hope it gets more of the recognition it deserves.
