Popular reviews

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  Review by Josh Lewis ★★★★ 10

  Eyes can be manipulated, memories can be forgotten, family can betray us... but the human condition always prevails.

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  Review by davidehrlich ★★★★½ 12

  Staggeringly beautiful and immensely true, the best animated film of 2016 — one of the year’s best films of any kind, really — is a stop-motion fable about a one-eyed boy in mythical Japan that was made by a team of gifted visionaries in an Oregon warehouse. 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.

  READ THE FULL REVIEW ON INDIEWIRE

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  Review by Evan ★★★★ 4

  Some of the most beautiful animation I've ever seen. The imagination and creativity behind this movie is absolutely mind-blowing.

  Monkey and Beetle are forever my spirit animals.

  Step aside Pixar, Laika is taking over.

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  Review by DirkH ★★★★★ 11

  Ok, Disney-, Pixar-, Dreamworks-people listen up.

  The next time you're in the process of creating your next animated feature, have this running 24/7 to make sure you'll be creative, different, passionate, dedicated, not inclined to take the easy way out and above all in awe of the craftsmanship involved in making what is one of the best animated films ever made.

  Dare to be different. Dare to be Kubo.

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  Review by James (Schaffrillas) ★★★ 4

  It's not great, it's not terrible. Some absolutely stunning animation anchors an aggressively predictable and mediocre story with a really annoying side character. It's fine but I really don't anticipate checking it out again

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  Review by SilentDawn ★★★★½ 3

  83

  Pretty telling that I didn't fully give myself over to Kubo and the Two Strings back when I was burying the ideas of memory, legend, family, and community in favor of independence and young adulthood. My mother gave me a big hug at the end of this film when we first saw it together. I thought I didn't understand why at the time, but the truth is that I did, and I was scared - of leaving, of creating my own story, of confronting the conclusions of some and weaving the beginnings of others, and mostly, frightened of what the implications of that hug might mean. I've come to terms with it now, and I'm never letting go. That is, until the end of the story. It'll be alright then.

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  Review by k(arst)en ★★★★½

  Beautifully animated, definitely need to watch again.

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  Review by movie enjoyer ★★★★½

  producers: so, this role is for a person of color
  rooney mara: hello

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  Review by liam f ★★★★ 5

  my favourite thing about this film has to be the fact that your fate could literally be determined by how epic your guitar solo is

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  Review by Gonzo ★★★★½ 6

  ▶ Gonzo's Top Movies of 2016: #3

  Is it good?
  Heck, yes. So good that I've already seen it twice. It's this year's How to Train Your Dragon.

  Is Kubo LAIKA's best movie yet?
  It can be argued. Personally, as impressive and spectacular as Kubo is, Selick & Gaiman's Coraline holds a special place in my heart. So, for now, the latter is still tops, but that could change soon.

  How's the animation?
  Jaw. Dropping. Mind. Blowing. Perhaps the most visually striking animated film since Don Hertzfeldt's It's Such a Beautiful Day...

  What's the verdict?
  ...And that's all I could really say. It's not a perfect film, but it is undeniably an incredible one. There are a ton of movies out…

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  Review by demi adejuyigbe ★★★★

  God, this movie is beautiful. I almost cried at the final frame.

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  Review by Lucy ★★★½ 2

  patty brought the twin witch party