Kubo and the Two Strings

This is all just my opinion, but the animation was some of the best stop motion I've seen to date. The character and set designs were immediately unique, clever, and endearing. The emotions the animators were able to bring to life were very impressive. You really have to respect the patience and careful planning animation takes to do it this well. The voice acting was mostly good. The young kid that voices Kubo did a great job. Especially for someone his age. The stars, Theron and McConaughey, did their jobs but nothing really stood out about either of their performances. The direction was fine. I would have preferred a more dynamic approach (but I want everything to be an epic so maybe I'm just hard to please). The story was another take on the hero's journey. Nothing you haven't already seen. The kids in my family enjoyed it. Monkey was the particular favorite character because of her no nonsense attitude and her skills as a warrior. I'd give it a 6 out of 10 (mainly for the animation and style) or 3 out of 5, which ever you prefer.

I love the way they work origami into this movie. The origami work was masterfully done. But I feel like the heart wasn't really there in this movie. Things that would normally dramatically impact people in real life don't seem to faze characters in the story. The things that have the most value in real life seemed to be nothing but a footnote in this movie. It's a fun movie if they had added more genuine reactions to realistic situations to this movie I think it could have been a hit.

Good animation, but I don't know if it's good enough to hold someone's interest. I can't imagine alot of kids liking this movie. There are very little funny parts. The one character that is supposed to be the comedic relief isnt really funny at all. I was very excited to watch this with my daughter after reading the reviews and seeing it got 97% on rotten tomatoes. The story is bland and other than the animation this movie really offers nothing. I'll probably never watch this movie again