KUBO and the TWO STRINGS – Rated PG

KUBO and THE TWO STRINGS – Rated PG– MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS

Starring the voices of Charlize Theron, Matthew McConaughey, Art Parkinson, George Takai, Rooney Mara and Ralph Fiennes

From the Producer and Animator Travis Knight, you know, the man who brought us such deep and dark stop-action animated films as PARANORMAN, CORALINE and THE BOX TROLLS ~ comes a story of love, loss, perseverance and above all, FAMILY…this is KUBO AND THE TWO STRINGS…

Trying to find a way to help his mother through her own trails and tribulations of life, we meet the sweet, caring and one-eyed KUBO (voiced by Art Parkinson).

Forced to find a way to keep he and his mother fed, since his father was killed many moons ago, Kubo makes his way to the market each day, telling wild and animated stories to anyone who will listen.

When his mother turns gravely ill, and his menacing Aunts come back to taunt him, Kubo is instructed to seek out his father’s Samurai armor, as it’s the only way to keep him safe, and alive!!!

With the assistance of his wooden monkey (voiced by Charlize Theron) which has now come to life, and a Warrior Beetle (voiced by Matthew McConaughey) by his side…Kubo continues his quest to find the armor that is rightfully his, and to find out too why his mother’s family all want to hurt him…

I give KUBO and THE TWO STRINGS a rating between MUST SEE ON THE BIG SCREEN and WAIT AND CATCH IT ON DVD ~ If you loved Knight’s previous animated creations, then you are going to LOVE, LOVE, LOVE KUBO, as this film has the same dark and slightly-demented feel as his previous works have had. But, happily for me, this film also has a tender and sweet side too, making this story and its characters so much more enjoyable to view. Haimes and Butler managed to bring Shannon Tindle’s story to life with this very special screenplay, transforming it into a work of art detailing a family’s love, and hate, for the ages. I was truly moved by the story that was playing out on screen, as was thinking that this film might be TOO DARK for children under the age of 7, as parts of it might be quite scary…but when I spoke with a few of the youngsters who joined to view the advanced screening, they assured me that they really enjoyed viewing KUBO…with one little one even cheering when things played out positive at one point in the film, dispelling my reservations that this might not be suitable for “the young ones” to view…

Kathy Kaiser