Review of Kubo and the Two Strings (2016) by Dee R — 29 Apr 2017

I was surprised to see this movie being advertised over where I live. I don't remember ever seeing any posters for Shrek at our bus stops, and this already isn't Dreamworks or Pixar, so I was curious to check it out.

The story of Kubo is about a half-god (?) child, Kubo, who managed to escape with his Goddess (???) mother from his grandfather and two aunts, who gouged his eye out when he was a baby, and intend to rip out his other eye as well.

What a weird hobby, you might think, but this is apparently part of some ritual that allows Kubo to live with his crazy half of the family up in the Heavens. So, this grandfather's urge to maim his only grandson is like a warped act of love. Imagine Disney's Hercules not having to prove his heroism, but needing to blind himself instead. The movie argues that being able to "see" someone's soul through their eyes is what makes one weak and unable to live in this sky paradise, referring back to the mother and how she fell for Kubo's mortal father, and I'm willing to buy this for the sake of the story. Except that I'm still not sure if this is an actual rule in this reality or just something the grandfather thinks is necessary.

Anyway, when Kubo's evil aunts finally catch up on him years later, Kubo's mother orders him to find the sword and armor from her bedtime stories, and that's pretty much where the adventure begins.

Like one can guess by looking at the cover, it's not your standard Hollywood production. It's like an anime, but without the exaggeration and with an original art style.

The animation was nice and different, the characters were enjoyable, I especially liked the beetle warrior, and there was a fitting atmosphere in every scene.

But the first half of the movie was confusing to me.

Kubo's origins were left unexplained longer than I would've liked and so I didn't really understand the scene where he was performing in the village. Was he was using magic or was everyone so into his story that they imagined the paper figurines to move? I wondered about this right when I saw this boy's puppet show; because why would an entire village consisting of normal human beings just stand there while some supernatural child is showcasing his unexplained powers in front of them? It doesn't matter that they've known him for years, there'll be people who will question that or be cautious of him. Not to mention that Kubo probably shouldn't be showing off his powers if he's on the run. I'm surprised his family didn't try to bribe any of the villagers to turn Kubo in.

The movie didn't show how he met up with these villagers and got accepted by them, so it took me a while to realise he was using actual magic and it was not just the movie's way of storytelling.

I guess I'm that dumb.

Another thing that could've been done better was the portrayal of Kubo's mother's trauma. I like the insertion of a character that loses herself so now and then, but till this day I'm still not sure what snaps her out of her trance or turns her back into that empty husk, except for a planned time schedule; since it looks like she's only a functional person early in the evening. The rest of the time she's an emotional drain on her underage son. And when I learned she was this super powerful witch/goddess, I was suprised that the writers gave her a trauma this severe. There are regular human beings in fiction and real life who deal with strife better than she does, and after having been save for so many years and living a calm life with her surprisingly upbeat son, I understand her behaviour even less. She lets her son walk off every day, while she sits on her Lion King rock and stares at everything the light touches, so it's not like she's consumed with worry over him.

And then there's the issue that when she transforms herself in the movie, she suddenly loses that scheduled trauma and functions normally. She's been a better mother to Kubo in her new form than she ever was those years before. How does that work. If she could've used her magic to "heal" herself in whatever way necessary, why didn't she do that, instead of letting this young boy take care of her incompetent adult ass. She's awesome in her transformation, she's no-nonsense, but motherly, and someone who goes all the way, so how would that type of person even get traumatized till the point she pities herself so much that she stops caring for the sole reason she went into hiding? She's way too strong-willed for that, the movie itself even advocates for this narrative.

Perhaps it would've been better if she entered this absent state during the day only, because she's a descendant of the Moon King and all. Kubo's aunts can only get to him during the night, so it would make sense that the sunlight restricts these beings in some way. But this trauma plot was just too much of a mess to empathize with.

But a pleasant surprise was the death of Kubo's parents. Lol, spoilers. They actually stayed dead, even after we've had a good taste of their personalities, that's a rare thing for movies to do. I don't think the way they died was done that well, though, it could've been more careful and more emotional. Kubo himself didn't shed that many tears for them, that guy's like stone considering the fact he's seen his mother die twice, and his father as an added bonus.

I mean, when taking into consideration that his father wasn't part of his childhood and his mother was a liability, it makes sense? Perhaps he looked sad because it's customary to do so, but he must've been glad he's finally free to live life. Lewl.

The "boss battle" at the end felt pretty bored as well. The whole ending of the movie was rushed in my opinion, which is a shame.

Nevertheless, I'd recommend this movie. It was its own thing and I respect that.