Film: Kubo and the Two Strings

Laika Studios has a lot of guts. The studio from Portland makes stop-motion films (Caroline, ParaNorman, The BoxTrolls) and has not been infected with the terrible habit of serving up regurgitated, safe stories to young people.

They have real content, and sometimes it is painful or scary. But that helps you to grow up big and strong. In their new puppet film, a Japanese boy called Kubo runs away from his two horrendous aunts. Grandpa Moonking wants to take his second eye, his father is dead, and his mother is withering away. A quest is his only chance for salvation, though his greatest talents appear to be in music, storytelling, and origami. The dialogues and jokes are not always amazing, but the animation cleverly capitalises on the possibilities offered by the Shinto faith, Japanese folklore, and origami. The giant skeleton, the sailing boat, and the one-eyed water creatures are highly imaginative. Roald Dahl and Ray Harryhausen are nodding approvingly from the grave.

KUBO AND THE TWO STRINGS
US, 2016, dir.: Travis Knight, act.: 101 min.