Kubo And The Two Strings, in my book, has a lot to live up to. The amount of positive buzz, the advancement of stop-motion work, plus what LAIKA has done in the past, all add up to the expectation.
However, my disappointment far exceeds that of those expectations because ultimately I felt this movie was more for kids than it was for adults. The depth of storytelling was lacking significantly as certain turn of events had no explanation and demanded the audience to just accept as they came.
The emotional depth also could have brought the audience to a different level but the storytellers never wanted to go there, very much unlike other previous LAIKA movies like Boxtrolls and Frankenweenie. Instead, certain deaths were just brushed aside.
There were two very interesting enemies that Kubo had to face during his journey and these two posed a threat that was tangible and immediate. Whereas the main antagonist was a very weak character with powers that was style and no substance.
But what the movie had going for it was the stop-motion animation that was leaps and bounds over their previous work, which were already amazing. The environment they created was beautiful and looked just as good as any other types of animation.
The direction would have looked more competent had the screenplay been stronger. But the introduction for Kubo and his mother, which was the introduction of the movie, was the best part. The set up, the mystical powers, the narration of Kubo as he told the story; had that tone and pace been kept, this could have been a perfect movie.
But alas, the second act was the slowest and the pacing shifted too much for the movie to be completely immerseful.
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