We got a dialogue-free trailer for Kubo and the Two Strings late last year, but I don’t know how I missed trailer 2, then I saw the third trailer before X-Men: Apocalypse and was completely blown away. I love animation. I love it when animators push the boundaries of their craft like The LEGO Movie did. Kubo is visually stunning and features a great voice cast including Charlize Theron, Matthew McConaughey, Rooney Mara, Ralph Fiennes, and Game of Thrones’ Art Parkinson as Kubo. Check the trailers out, read the synopsis below, then circle August 19th. It looks like we’ve got a late summer treat coming.
An epic action-adventure set in a fantastical Japan from acclaimed animation studio LAIKA. Clever, kindhearted Kubo (voiced by Art Parkinson of Game of Thrones) ekes out a humble living, telling stories to the people of his seaside town including Hosato (George Takei), Akihiro (Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa), and Kameyo (Academy Award nominee Brenda Vaccaro). But his relatively quiet existence is shattered when he accidentally summons a spirit from his past which storms down from the heavens to enforce an age-old vendetta. Now on the run, Kubo joins forces with Monkey (Academy Award winner Charlize Theron) and Beetle (Academy Award winner Matthew McConaughey), and sets out on a thrilling quest to save his family and solve the mystery of his fallen father, the greatest samurai warrior the world has ever known. With the help of his shamisen a magical musical instrument Kubo must battle gods and monsters, including the vengeful Moon King (Academy Award nominee Ralph Fiennes) and the evil twin Sisters (Academy Award nominee Rooney Mara), to unlock the secret of his legacy, reunite his family, and fulfill his heroic destiny.
After Boxtrolls, ParaNorman, and Coraline, I would follow the Laika people to the ends of the earth. The darkness of their movies, and the tactile feel, remind me of all those wonderful, moody kids’ films from the 1980’s, like Henson’s Dark Crystal and Labyrinth, and Return to Oz, and Legend, and the Secret of NIMH. I’m not saying to set out to terrify children, but when filmmakers worry too much about whether they WILL scare children, you get less creative risk taking, and the kids don”t engage with the films enough on an emotional and imaginative level.
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Kids rise to stuff. I never understand films that talk down to them. They’re more intelligent than most adults.
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The Henson Company needs to get back into the game. Bad form announcing the Labyrinth sequel before Bowie’s body was cold, but as long as they bring Brian Froud back, I’m all for it.
They should actually make a new original fantasy designed by Froud. I know Hollywood is not in the originality game anymore, but it would kind of be the third part of a spiritual trilogy.
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