Kubo was the first fully Claymation film I have scene, and it was fantastic to see. I am a huge fan of the art style and want so much more of it. The story was charming, and even exceptionally enthralling for the first half of the film, but slows to a halt during Act III, crippling its momentum. The art style alone makes this movie worth watching, and I will see anything that took this much work and artistic talent on the big screen in coming years.

Another solid film from studio Laika. It's really unfortunate that this technically tanked at the box office. It's Laika's highest rated film...yet made less than its previous three films. I'm hoping it finds some life on home video and the award buzz surrounding it helps out. The film is about a young boy named Kubo (Art Parkinson) who tells stories to the villagers in the small village beneath his home where he uses magic from his guitar to make origami characters appear. One night he is attacked by the Sisters (Rooney Mara) which leads him on a journey to find the three sacred items that will allow him to destroy the Moon King (Ralph Fiennes) and restore peace to the land. Along the ride for him is Monkey (Charlize Theron) a guardian who has a deep dark secret. Then there's the clueless Beetle (Matthew McConaughey) who doesn't exactly remember everything. The film itself is beautiful. Stop motion at its finest and it weaves together a wonderful tale about loss and memory, but also deals with healing and love. It's great and I can't recommend it enough. I will say the only gripe I had with it was the film ended and I had a few questions that never get answered. Overall, solid animated film good for the whole family give it a look!

Kubo and the Two Strings is Travis Knight's animated stop-motion fantasy adventure film set in a feudal Japan voiced by a coterie of prominent actors. The overall effort is disappointing as so much excellent work went into the visual side of the film but little into the dialogue which can best be described as sophomoric and simply not funny. Don't plan on taking your kids to see this as the story as it has an undercurrent of nasty characters who might be a little too scary for children. When we're first introduced to Kubo (Art Parkinson), the young protagonist, he already has had his eye plucked out by his evil grandfather ("The Moon King" voiced by Ralph Fiennes) and his two aunts (a Japanese variation on the bad witches from the "Wizard of Oz") who are out to kill his mother, Sariatu (Charlize Theron) who was cast out by the family after marrying Kubo's now missing dad, Hanzo. Soon enough, the aunts (i.e. the witches) kill Kubo's mother and Kubo learns he must find three talismans to assist him in eventually defeating his grandfather. They include armor, a sword and a breastplate. Just as in the Wizard of Oz, Kubo is assisted by three characters who protect him from the wrath of his aunts. First there's "little Hanzo," Kubo's own Origami creation, who resembles his father, a Samurai warrior, along with a Monkey who comes to life from Kubo's monkey amulet given to him by his mother (the monkey is also voiced by Theron) as well as a Beetle/man hybrid (Matthew McConaughey). It's soon revealed that the Monkey and the Beetle are manifestations of Kubo's parents but hardly approximate their grandeur. The Monkey's lines in particular are quite grating, as she spends most of her time insulting the Beetle, who comes off as foolish and ineffectual. Nonetheless, the two manage in the end to sacrifice themselves and kill the aunts, so that Kubo can have his final confrontation with the evil grandfather. As I mentioned at the beginning, a great deal of thought went into animating this enterprise and most of it is quite impressive. However, when it comes to the animation of the grandfather's spirit (which takes the form of an ordinary dragon), one must conclude that the film's animators could have created a more interesting and compelling (final) monster/adversary for little Kubo. The ending is at least appropriate as Kubo uses the strings from his Shamisen (banjo-like instrument), culled from his mother's hair, which enables him to neutralize his grandfather's powers and transform him to a feeble old man, on whom the villagers (from Kubo's nearby town), take pity. Despite the impressive animation, the film's inappropriate comic tone undermines the filmmaker's serious intent, and relegates the overall effort as a lame attempt that patronizes the adult audience while at the same token, ends up scaring its base of young children.

Every month seems to bring another big budget animated film. I just wish all of them were this beautiful and original. Yes, Kubo finds adventure and laughter, but - more importantly - his journey surprises at every turn. From the moment you first see origami dancing, you know that this movie will be unique. And the happiness you find along the way is richer because it's tinged with a grief that rings true.