Travis Knight
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Bumblebee can be described as The Breakfast Club meets Transformers.
There are a few chuckles to be had about Alf being appointment television viewing, the sheer number of band shirts Charlie seems to own, Judd Nelson’s fist pump at the end of The Breakfast Club, and nods to the Transformers animated film and a throwaway Go-Bots gag that will leave fans of the old school series in stitches, but overall they feel like they exist for the sake of being there, not for any particular function.
And “The Breakfast Club” proves its pop culture immortality with yet another invocation — “Bumblebee” only ever uses less than a minute of the film, but it does so repeatedly and as the punctuation of key moments.
She turns eighteen in the brief span of the story, which is set in 1987 and features a recurrently explicit tribute to “The Breakfast Club.”
She confides in him the hurt of losing a loved one and shares the rebellious majesty of The Breakfast Club.
(Bumblebee is a big fan of The Breakfast Club, but he doesn’t like the Smiths or Rick Astley.)
Coraline (2009)
Directed by Henry Selick
influenced Kubo and the Two Strings (2016), Bumblebee (2018)
“Kubo and the Two Strings” was made by Laika Films, the outfit behind such quirky and visually arresting pictures as “Coraline” (2009) and “ParaN orman ” (2012).
Like “Coraline,” “ParaNorman” and “The Boxtrolls,” which collectively announced Laika as a vital and distinctive creative force in the increasingly competitive field of big-budget animation, “Kubo and the Two Strings” brilliantly updates stop-motion, a venerable yet time-consuming mode of film production cherished for its hand-crafted, herky-jerky aesthetic.
The film from Laika, who also produced the excellent “The Boxtrolls,” “ParaNorman,” and “Coraline,” begins on an ocean, in the middle of a storm, in the dead of night.
The adventure fantasy “Kubo and the Two Strings” is seamless stop-motion storytelling, from Laika, the independent animation studio that gave us the darkly entertaining “Coraline,” “ParaNorman” and “The Boxtrolls.”
Laika , the independent studio behind morbid enchantments like “Coraline” and “ParaNorman,” has already established itself as a formidable bulwark against the ever-accelerating onslaught of computer-generated 3D cartoons, but “ Kubo and the Two Strings ” makes even the most painstaking of their previous movies feel like a trial run.
In that moment of this latest offering from the folks at Laika Entertainment -- that previously created the stop-motion animated films "Coraline," "ParaNorman" and "The Boxtrolls" -- the 12-year-old title character has found himself in a cave, along with those accompanying him on his journey (a talking monkey and a former samurai turned man-sized beetle), confronted by an enormous skeleton that's come to life.
After such fascinating movies as "Coraline" (2009), "ParaNorman" (2012) and "The Boxtrolls" (2014), Laika has created its greatest masterpiece: "Kubo and the Two Strings," a richly detailed and heart-aching story steeped in the powerful imagery of Japanese folk tales.
“Kubo” marks the fourth feature film from Laika Entertainment, which most recently delivered “The Boxtrolls” in 2014, but it’s a dramatic departure from that film’s quirky, cheese-obsessed Brits.
Kubo is the fourth film from the Portland-based Laika — a studio specializing in stop-motion that has turned out features ranging from the solid (2014’s The Boxtrolls) to the sublime (2009’s Coraline) — and the first to be directed by the company’s CEO, Travis Knight.
Since forming 10 years ago, Laika’s output has included the creepy fairy tale “Coraline” (2009) and the eccentric comedy-adventure “The Boxtrolls” (2014).
Off-kilter, dark gems like Coraline (2009), ParaNorman (2012) and The Boxtrolls (2014) have made the Oregon-based independent studio the modern-day standard-bearer for hand-crafted, stop-motion animation, and with Kubo and the Two Strings they raise the bar yet again.
Kubo isn't quite as nightmare-inducing as that film, nor as viscerally unsettling as the pungent body-horror fable The Boxtrolls (2014), which was set in a world strewn with garbage and cheese.
In this way, as well as in its nods to legendary Japanese filmmaker Akira Kurosawa, Kubo is a Rashomon for the whole family: a tale that examines its own multiplicity and gently reminds us that every story looks different depending on who’s telling it.
It seems his mother (Brenda Vaccaro) has tried to keep him hidden away from her father (voiced by Ralph Fiennes) and evil sisters (both voiced by Rooney Mara) who, in a nod to "Star Wars" and other films of similar thematic ilk, want to bring him over to the dark side.
It’s as if screenwriters Marc Haimes and Chris Butler studied “Star Wars” and decided to trace certain aspects of that pop space opera back to their Akira Kurosawa-inspired roots.
“Kubo” is visually creative and built on the same kind of classic mythological foundation that George Lucas mined for “Star Wars,” and it’s another testament to the quality of Laika Entertainment.
“Kubo and the Two Strings” carries echoes of L. Frank Baum as well -- and Roald Dahl, and “The Phantom Tollbooth,” and even some of bluegrass legends Flatt and Scruggs in the hero’s Foggy Mountain samisen breakdowns.
The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)
Directed by Henry Selick
influenced Kubo and the Two Strings (2016)
Visuals
However, that film was also bolstered by the involvement of The Nightmare Before Christmas director Henry Selick and the Neil Gaiman source material.
Maybe it's because the first movie I remember seeing in that style was The Nightmare Before Christmas, which threatened to forever paint my view of the genre as creepy.
Considering the effort that has to go into every shot, Missing Link—the latest feature from the bespoke animation powerhouse Laika (the studio behind hits such as The Boxtrolls and Kubo and the Two Strings )—is impressive to the point of feeling daunting.
But it lacks the ethereal wonder of the studio’s best work (including Coraline and Kubo and the Two Strings), and its slight, episodic story occasionally lags.
While that premise is undeniably charming, it’s perplexing that a studio that’s had trouble with cultural representation in the past (“Why is the movie’s main cast so white?” asked BuzzFeed about 2016’s Kubo and the Two Strings) would pick a colonialist gadfly to serve as Missing Link’s protagonist.
Though its story isn’t as emotionally complex or deep as that of either Kubo and the Two Strings or ParaNorman, Missing Link is a charming, fast-paced adventure that serves as both a showcase for a mix of slapstick and verbal wit, and for the studio’s textured and beautiful animation.
Their third and fourth features, The Boxtrolls and Kubo and the Two Strings continued the trend of Oscar nominations and were successful monetarily.
Adding a historical context to Kubo and the Two Strings is that it draws heavily upon the great films from Japan, namely Seven Samurai and Yojimbo, both directed by Akira Kurosawa (who I consider to be the best director of all time).
Big Trouble in Little China (1986)
Directed by John Carpenter
influenced Kubo and the Two Strings (2016)
Characters
Her characters also reminded me of Thunder, Rain, and Lightning in Big Trouble in Little China, which was cool.
Grave of the Fireflies (1988)
Directed by Isao Takahata
influenced Kubo and the Two Strings (2016)
Themes
The film does feel startlingly personal, and much like the great Grave of the Fireflies (1988) and Pixar’s Up (2009) before it, Kubo and the Two Strings treats its audience with utmost respect, taking them on an exhilarating adventure while shining a light into the darkest corners of the human experience.
HiT or Miss: No, “Ben-Hur” won’t replace Charlton Heston’s blockbuster in our hearts and minds.
Adding a historical context to Kubo and the Two Strings is that it draws heavily upon the great films from Japan, namely Seven Samurai and Yojimbo, both directed by Akira Kurosawa (who I consider to be the best director of all time).
What Dreams May Come (1998)
Directed by Vincent Ward
influenced Kubo and the Two Strings (2016)
Plot
Characters take over as the style pulls you into their story world, archetypes with specific roles to fill in Kubo’s hero’s journey, but no one is exactly who or what they appear, similar to a technique employed in the Robin Williams’ film What Dreams May Come.
What Movies Will It Remind You Of?: Vivo may bring to mind other family favorites like Coco , Soul , Kubo and the Two Strings, Tangled , and even Finding Nemo .
Laika has favored the dark and macabre in their animation, and whether their previous films–like “Corpse Bride,” “Coraline,” “Paranorman,” and “The Boxtrolls”–worked is a matter of opinion.
Laika did contract work for Tim Burton’s weirdly compelling Corpse Bride , but its own first feature film was the darkly brilliant Coraline , directed by Henry Selick ( The Nightmare Before Christmas ) from a story by Neil Gaiman.
Like “Coraline,” “ParaNorman” and “The Boxtrolls,” which collectively announced Laika as a vital and distinctive creative force in the increasingly competitive field of big-budget animation, “Kubo and the Two Strings” brilliantly updates stop-motion, a venerable yet time-consuming mode of film production cherished for its hand-crafted, herky-jerky aesthetic.
The film from Laika, who also produced the excellent “The Boxtrolls,” “ParaNorman,” and “Coraline,” begins on an ocean, in the middle of a storm, in the dead of night.
The adventure fantasy “Kubo and the Two Strings” is seamless stop-motion storytelling, from Laika, the independent animation studio that gave us the darkly entertaining “Coraline,” “ParaNorman” and “The Boxtrolls.”
Laika , the independent studio behind morbid enchantments like “Coraline” and “ParaNorman,” has already established itself as a formidable bulwark against the ever-accelerating onslaught of computer-generated 3D cartoons, but “ Kubo and the Two Strings ” makes even the most painstaking of their previous movies feel like a trial run.
In that moment of this latest offering from the folks at Laika Entertainment -- that previously created the stop-motion animated films "Coraline," "ParaNorman" and "The Boxtrolls" -- the 12-year-old title character has found himself in a cave, along with those accompanying him on his journey (a talking monkey and a former samurai turned man-sized beetle), confronted by an enormous skeleton that's come to life.
After such fascinating movies as "Coraline" (2009), "ParaNorman" (2012) and "The Boxtrolls" (2014), Laika has created its greatest masterpiece: "Kubo and the Two Strings," a richly detailed and heart-aching story steeped in the powerful imagery of Japanese folk tales.
Imagine the twins from “ The Shining ,” floating above the ground in black hats and capes and Japanese Noh masks.)
20 Million Miles to Earth (1957)
Directed by Nathan Juran
influenced Kubo and the Two Strings (2016)
Visuals
Whether it was the Cyclops and dragon in "The Seventh Voyage of Sinbad," the Allosaurus in "The Valley of the Gwangi" (and other such critters in "One Million Years B.C." -- not to mention Raquel Welch), the title character in "The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms" or the alien monster in "20 Million Miles to Earth," I couldn't get enough of such creations.
The 7th Voyage of Sinbad (1958)
Directed by Nathan Juran
influenced Kubo and the Two Strings (2016)
Visuals
Influenced by the legendary Ray Harryhausen ("The 7th Voyage of Sinbad" was a childhood favorite of mine), animators for "Kubo and the Two Strings" averaged 3.31 seconds per week of finished footage.