Kubo

Kubo
Beautiful movie. But the story was nothing to write home about.

To be fair it is based on Japanese mythology.

Killing off the main cast is something different.

Yeah, beetle dad getting offed actually shocked me a little. But the rest of the story was pretty predictable and underwhelming.

If Hanzo had all the pieces of the armor, why did he feel the need to scatter them across the land? When did he even do this?

Yeah and if the armor was such a threat to them then how come the moon people didn't just take it all? But then again he armor never even did anything special in the end. And if the beetle dad was Hanzo the whole time then how the fuck did the little paper Hanzo know where to go all the time?

He never had them. He abandoned his quest to get them for some sexy moon butt.

I've seen people say that the moon people split Hanzo, that the little paper dude got his memories while Beetle just got his body, and that sounds reasonable enough for me.


Their home or fort or whatever was literally covered in large paintings of the locations of the armor pieces. If he knew were they were that well, why not grab them while he was there? And like the other user said, it also begs the question why didn't the moon people just find them based on said paintings and take them themselves?

>that the little paper dude got his memories
Well that's all well and good but not in the movie. Those are some extremely distant dots to connect with only what we saw.

The paintings were him prepping. He said fuck it to going to get them after moon booty showed up. He never went to the places user, he sat around plowing the moon until he had a kid.

Wouldn't you?

So it's just like every other Laika movie?, impressive from a visual and technical standpoint but boring and forgettable in terms of characters and story.

More or less, though I still think it's easily their best movie on both fronts. It just left me with a few too many little questions.

Eh. I'll take Coraline or Paranorman over this storywise. Characters in Kubo seemed woefully underdeveloped comparatively.

Sup Forums should give The Little Prince a chance, It's equally as awesome as this film

If you have a Netflix membersip, WATCH IT!

The adventure was all the kid's imagination!
That sort of thing just rubs me the wrong way.

Enjoyable film, but really could used some subtly.

They slap you in the face with the themes via awkward dialogue and you could predict almost every twist and turn because of the heavy signposting.

That felt like someone watched the movie and then said "YOU KNOW WHAT WOULD BE REALLY FUCKED UP" without thinking about its consequences on the story's pacing

Why did the guy turn into a giant fish

I think the atmosphere in this movie was top notch, but Coraline and Paranormal had much more interesting characters.

Because the finale needed a monster to make the armor and sword seem necessary.

I was pretty disappointed with how the encounter went from transcendent moon god to centipede-legged barracuda

Yeah, I was expecting a man-to-man fight. It was cool but it came out of fucking nowhere.

I liked it though, since it reflects whatever kinds of monsters the moon characters must actually be like as well as Kubo's mom

People keep saying the story wasn't that strong but I saw it a second time and the story still worked really well for me.

Its a standard hero's Journey.


I just think it really works well. I love how the two strings happen in the film.

I like this thread. Everything that's been said up to this point is accurate of my feelings. Visually it was beautiful but story wise I was unimpressed. Especially with the awkward pacing/dialogue with Matthew Macohnehey and Charlize Therzon. Felt very forced and unnatural for dialogue.

Kubos voice actor was good though.

george takei needed more lines

You think with all this Nike money, they could spend more time on the script/get better writers.

Do you think they're on some sort of deadline? I wouldn't think it since they're all passion projects funded by a billionaire, is it that their writing department just isn't terribly up to snuff?

i thought the story was fine

I don't remember there being a refusal of the call.

Some old Japanese myth about a fish eating the moon or something.

Same. The characters were extremely likeable and the plot was great. It was simple but damn was it a feels trip.
I didn't expect anything with crazy depth but it was pretty solid.

>Those are some extremely distant dots to connect with only what we saw.
It's a folk tale. I think there's a lot of room for being vague and coming up with explanations.

A lot of reviews nitpick the shit out of it, asking how Kubo was able to make an origami soldier that knew where to go, or how his mom had magic to animate a wooden monkey. Fuckin' speedforce, man.

I honestly didn't have any idea that Beetle was his dad, and I certainly didn't expect them to actually kill him as soon as it was revealed. But I guess I'm just a retard then. Besides, this is one of those movies that I was too busy soaking in all of the scenery to try and stay ahead of the plot.

I mean, you can try and say the ending was predictable, but then, MOST endings are predictable, especially in kids movies. The good guys win. SURPRISE. Although here there was certainly a cost. Kubo gained and lost everything over the course of this film, which is another thing you don't really see in kids' movies. You could argue the whole memory-wipe of the Moon King was a cop-out, and that Kubo should have actually killed him, but really, with this movie's themes of the importance of memory, and how Kubo thought he had lost his parents initially, I think it's pretty apparent that he essentially did kill the Moon King, but instead of wasting a perfectly good body, he made it into a friendly old man. Plus, him using the magic to finish him instead of the sword enabled the "two strings" metaphor and ties in with the theme of people being with you even when they're really not.

It was a pretty shit adaptation of the book.

I liked the movie but I can't take anyone called "Hanzo" seriously anymore.

RYU GA TEKI GO FUCK YOURSELF

To be fair, this movie was more focused on the thematic elements than it was narrative. In that respect, it was really successful in doing what it was trying to do imo. The strong emotional core of this movie more than makes up for the straightforward and simple narrative.

...

I was really hoping for that giant moon samurai from kubo's story at the beginning

I can understand some of the criticism, but listening to reviews the criticisms were all over the fucking place. Everyone says it's a great movie but no one can agree on where it fell a little flat. One reviewer will think things weren't explained enough and the next says stuff was over explained.

The movie doesn't shine off of it's plot though, what does shine is the characters and all the heart in it. You care for Kubo and it is very easy to self insert into his emotions. I had some wetness in my eyes most of the movie. It was a standard hero quest movie (which I love) but with a ton more passion than I expected.

>I hope everyone is going out to support Kubo and the Two Strings.
>A couple of years ago, for a few magical weeks when the film was still in early stages and we were allowed to play, C Shannon Tindle gave me a sandbox and let me do some action animations to test the waters for how we might handle fight scenes. I had a blast working with him, and have the utmost respect for not only his vision, but also for his persistence and incredible generosity. He's a good man and a great filmmaker.
>Congratulations to the rest of the talented artists and the whole team at Laika who brought Kubo and his family's story to the screen. I wish you every success!

AnthonyHoldenArt on Facebook

Beautiful. I love the stop motion but part of me wishes the movie was animated in anime style.

The fact that the Sisters only hated their oldest because she left them behind, not because of her sleeping with a mortal and having his child was interesting
The whole family thing that the movie had was great.

>muh originality meme
good luck finding anything original on that format in the past 30 years

the sister banter was great..and pretty dark

My only issue with this movie is a really minor one, I just think the bug samurai tried to play his comic relief schtick a little too often at inappropriate times. The story was well paced and had the right amount of presence, the adventure and visuals were beautiful, and the characters played off eachother well. I get that it was a very light story with not many twists and turns, but I feel like people forgot that you can do that and still make a great movie.

people were talking up her voice, but her scipt was better. They really showed the hate of the older sister

I needed Beetle comedy, cause otherwise the movie was too heavy for me.

>director's dedication at the end of the credits
>"To my two strings"
Maybe I was just overemotional from holding in tears for most of the movie but that dedication yanked on my heart

The Sister fights and Moon King talking to Kubo before he turned into a fish were my favorite parts of the movie.

>this HELL

Woah man think of the children

Yeah, that happened alot in the movie.

>What the hell is the heavens that mortals can just go there?
>What are these weird Japanese alien women?
>Why, of all things, is Beetle a beetle?
>Why did the mother have brain damage but she's normal as monkey?

>the last one

Did you not see her head get fucking smashed on a rock at the start?

>Why, of all things, is Beetle a beetle?
Because they transformed him to his crest, a Beetle, plus filthy humans are no different than bugs to them anyway
>Why did the mother have brain damage but she's normal as monkey?
Because her soul wasn't in the human body that had the head injury and brain damage.

>MFW the family crest of the moon family almost looks exactly like the two fold tomoe the Japanese side of my family has for their family crest.


Also, was I the only one who heard a bit of Robin Williams when listening to Beetle talk?

I hope you don't go out at night.

Honestly I had forgotten the entire cast going in so I kept thinking he was Channing Tatum for some reason. He was a solid VA though. The whole cast was great.

Because the Moon King gave Kubo was he literally wanted.

Like holy shit, how many of you were even listening to the dialogue?

He only turns into the Moon Fish Monster after asking Kubo "You want to be the hero don't you? The hero who slays the evil monster, WELL VERY WELL THEN" and then he transforms

I must have missed it somehow

My mother only has one sister, but my grandfather hated my father.

Yeah, it was a solid cast. With voice acting, as long as you cast someone as the right character, you can't go wrong with anything they do unless it's a dubbing. But I couldn't believe it was Matthew McConaughey as the beetle. I mean for every humorous scene, I kept hearing Robin Williams with a slight southern accent.

Yeah I couldn't believe it was him.

Personally, I felt it was enjoyable. It was a very slow burn though. So if you aren't getting enamored, you'll feel the time go until it gets to the interesting parts. I feel like it could have been explained a little better. I do like that they fucking skipped the lazy ass training montage to make him appear strong. I also liked that you saw him get stronger so that when his magic got better it made sense instead of of the 0>100 most movies with magical appreciates have.

Solid movie. Paranorman and Coraline I feel are probably better movies but this one has probably the strongest emotional impact.

back in my day videogames were huge.

Really?
There was a point, once or twice, where he sounded like Clooney to me. Specifically when they first find the sword room.

For whatever reason the scene of the Moon King confronting Kubo was my favorite, I was completely transfixed by the character animation on him.

He was very kindly looking, as well as Godlike. Kind of makes it difficult to see him as such a cold being.

I'm glad someone else agrees that the story was hot cliched garbage

>lets give our MC a fantastical ability that could allow for engaging, interesting, exciting set pieces
>lets only use it in two and a half scenes

>story at the beginning
>birds
>short dream sequence>leaf boat
>monkey's story

They used it a fair amount through the entire thing, except for the ending where Kubo went super saiyan, and his magic ability was strengthened through memories/storytelling.

>Story scene
>Birds and wings
>In the Navy, you can sail the Seven Seas.
>Mom's Story Time Spectacular
>Beating Aunty with the power of Rock.
>Showing gramps the Greatest and Best Song in the World.

>monkey's story
I don't remember what this is

>Beating Aunty with the power of Rock.
>Showing gramps the Greatest and Best Song in the World.
Neither of these things refer to his origami ability unless you think "random strumming" is interesting

Story doesn't matter at all if the characters are interesting enough, and Kubo had amazing characters.
ParaNorman had a great story, but the characters aren't as memorable. The only memorable characters from ParaNorman are Norman, Aggie, and Courteny's fat ass.

It's his magic, it was always able to affect anything in the world around him, not just paper.

That was still his magic. It wasn't 100% origami, he just used it for origami.
His magic always centered around story telling.

>But the story was nothing to write home about.

The best stories are simple ones told well. Trying to make them too complex just confuses both the teller and the audience.

I imagine Hanzo was as much as a ditz as Beetle was, just a more competent ditz..

I've only seen Boxtrolls and Kubo, do I need to go back and watch Coraline and Paranorman? Are they that good?

For the record, I liked Boxtrolls and absolutely loved Kubo.

Coraline is great, Paranorman is alright. Sup Forums hypes it up too much.

I would recommend watching all 4 of Laika's movies. Boxtrolls is definitely their weakest film, and I'd argue Kubo is their best. Coraline and Paranorman are both fun and spooky films

So what was moonman's problem?When Kubo answered how moonman was just some grouchy asshole, in the end it didn't seem that far off.
also fuck the "power of love" ending, where did that bullshit come from and why did it happen that way

I was trying to think after the movie, are there any other 'mainstream'/Western animated movies (US ones, mostly) that take place in Japan? I know as far as other Asian countries, China has Mulan and Kung Fu Panda, but that's all I could remember off the top of my head

So, you didn't watch the movie?

So in other words, it plucked at your heartstrings?

Flip the story's perspective around, and it becomes about a god's desperate attempt to reunite with his demigod grandson, sired by a power-hungry warlord who seduced his daughter and led her astray from her divine duty.

I would say that this is true, but the Moon King really could give a shit about his family. He just didn't want Kubo to remain on Earth, that's where the affection really ends.
His aunts seemed to care about him, though.

Moonman was blind to the warmth of humanity. The movie literally spells it out, so without being able to see the good sides of humanity all he sees is the awfulness.

Also you'd be upset too if all three of your daughters died in two days and your petulant grandson who caused the entire conflict by being born tells you to fuck off and collected weapons specifically designed to murder your shit when you simply wanted to be a family.

With this, and the Tale of Princess Kaguya, are there any stories about japanese divine beings from the moon that don't end tragically?

Any thoughts on when Kubo takes place? Two of my family's favorite movies are Last Samurai and Shogun (yes i know that's a mini series) and we are always struck by how far apart they are and how little has changed. Also, are the Farlands supposed to be Hokkaido?

>Any thoughts on when Kubo takes place?

The past.

Fucking seriously though. I was really annoyed with all the random unexplained magical lightshow shit going on when he perfectly good powers that were established but never useful.

>tfw this movie is flopping hard
>tfw there's a retarded 'white washing' controversy surrounding it
>tfw everybody went to see Suicide Squad and Sausage Party instead

>its his magic
the other user never addressed his magic, just his "fantastical ability" which obviously references his creative origami powers

They could've made him a generic "dumbass dad" like every other piece of animated media, but the fact that they made him a kid-at-heart who happened to be a skilled fighter was refreshing.

Ending was kinda rushed but I thought it was pretty good. I'll have to rewatch to be sure but maybe it dethrones Coraline for me.

I thought that's who it was at first too, funny enough. But I also felt like Ralph Fiennes sounded like James Woods a bit.

Goddamn this film was beautiful.

Just . . . Gorgeous.

Laika are stop motion masters... do they have any modern rivals?

No one close

Aardman? But they really don't have shit on Laika's animating and rig building skills these days. Their films are still hilarious though.

Were people getting salty about white actors voicing the characters? Jesus, sometimes you just gotta roll with whatever voices fit the characters, no matter what race.

I really liked Monkey for some reason.
Creature deigns were pretty cool too.

The intro fucked me up, especially when Kubo's mom dragged herself to her child, injuries be damned.