Kubo and the Two Strings (2016)

Kubo and the Two Strings (2016)

5/10

Starring the voice of

Charlize Theron

Art Parkinson

Ralph Fiennes

Directed by Travis Knight

Kubo and the Two Strings is a movie that was too boring and mysterious for its own good.
I decided to see the movie after catching up on the audience and critic ratings, which were high, mind you, and I expected to be blown away while watching. But I wasn’t. The voice casting was not memorable, and I feel the movie wasted my time.
I guess my problem with the movie is the delay in revealing the mystery behind everything happening. This delay lasted until towards the end. From there, my sleepy eyes were awake, but I still wasn’t impressed by this bad pacing.

The movie doesn’t start boring, though. Enough visual effects from Kubo playing the shamisen will have you captivated by the possibilities of the movie, and the impressive world-building. After you discover who Kubo’s mother was, you’ll understand why she seems to be out of existence during the day and alive at night.
That aside, the whole mystery made the movie drag for me. The moment all the clues were put together, what was supposed to be an awesome climax ended up being a sad and dark demise. The tragic tale that follows this movie was never lifted throughout, and it remains that way until the end. The ending, which I couldn’t understand why the writers chose, was not uplifting. I’m sorry, but I’m still a fan of the bad guy getting what’s coming after the mountain of destruction he’s caused.

Kubo and the Two Strings is the fourth feature film (Caroline (2009), ParaNorman (2012) and The Boxtrolls (2014)) by stop-motion animation studio Laika.
This 3D stop-motion fantasy action-adventure film follows Laika’s production method of keeping the production cost at $60 million.Kubo and the Two Strings will be Laika’s least worldwide grossing film, making only $69 millionat the box office, even though it’s their highest-rated film.

The movie plot is about a young boy named Kubo who lives a quiet, normal life with his mother, who only seems to be active at night. Kubo makes money from performing in the small shore-side village, but he disobeys his mother’s orders to never stay out after dark, and spirits from her past come hunting for him.

His mother shows up to help him, and with her last bit of magic as she fights off the spirit, she creates a monkey guide to help him locate a magical suit of armor once worn by his late father, a legendary Samurai warrior. With this armor, he will be able to defend himself from his aunts and grandfather.

Kubo and the Two Strings is seen as a good animation by the standards of others, but I, for one, did not like it.

Pete’s Dragon (2016)

Pete’s Dragon (2016)

7/10

Starring

Bryce Dallas Howard

Oakes Fegley

Wes Bentley

Karl Urban

Directed by David Lowery

Just like The BFG (2016) never got enough wind beneath its wings to make it count for Disney as another 2016 movie that would break the bank, Pete’s Dragon suffered the same fate but performed better at the box office.
I have to say I really enjoyed Pete’s Dragon, and the whole story didn’t hide behind the idea of a child struggling to make people believe, which was what I thought the movie was going to be about.

I watched this movie without any idea of what it was about—just seeing the preview on cable TV was enough to get me to see it. Even then, I expected the movie to play with your mind, making you wonder if Pete was really seeing a dragon or not. The movie didn’t go down that path. It started with how Pete met his best friend, a dragon he named Elliot, and how that friendship brought a whole town to witness a story that had been classified as a myth.

Concerning the CGI and the acting of the people on board this movie, I’ll say the characters Pete (Oakes Fegley), the CGI Elliot, and Gavin (Karl Urban) stole the show from the rest.
These three seemed to be in control of the movie’s pace and the happenings, with others who were meant to have major roles just falling behind.
The CGI of Elliot the dragon is one to admire—it was well done.

Unlike the previous Disney Pete’s Dragon (1977), which was a musical live-action animated film, this movie had its own distinctive and different storyline compared to the original. This 2016 version removed the unnecessary, like Pete’s backstory being that he ran away from his cruel foster parents after becoming an orphan. Here, after the death of his parents in a car accident, he went into the woods where he met Elliot. They also removed the idea that Elliot could talk back to Pete verbally and made their communication more telepathic.

In this version of Pete’s Dragon, Pete one day wandered far from Elliot and met a girl. With this girl was Grace (Bryce Dallas Howard), a forest ranger, along with Gavin, Grace’s future brother-in-law. It was Gavin who caught Pete and, in the struggle, hurt him, which woke Elliot from his nap.

Pete was rushed to the hospital while Gavin went hunting in the woods because he heard a howling that was different. He and his hunting buddies stumbled upon Elliot and Pete’s home, which caused Elliot the dragon to attack.

Gavin escaped with his friends and rallied more people to go dragon hunting. While this was happening, Pete was living with Grace, begging to go back to the forest to be with his friend.
Everything soon led to the capture of Elliot and Pete’s desire to get him free again.

The plot relies a bit too much on familiar tropes, missing the chance to fully dive into the unique aspects of the story. Some of the interactions and conflicts also feel forced, which takes away from the emotional punch the movie could’ve had.

A good movie to see with your family.

Without a Clue (1988)

Without a Clue (1988)

6/10

Starring

Michael Caine

Ben Kingsley

Directed by Thorn Eberhardt

As far as Sherlock Holmes goes, he is notably the greatest detective that ever was and ever will be in the fantasy world. His ability of deductive reasoning and the knack for putting things together with mere grains of clues has inspired many creations of heroes to share in such abilities—for example, Bruce Wayne/Batman.

Without a Clue is a British comedy that decides to take this whole premise and toss it in the trash. The movie is funny, and the idea is more than welcome as we see a Sherlock Holmes who has no idea what he’s supposed to do and is just a figment of another’s imagination.
The movie explores another realm of this great detective. In this realm, Sherlock Holmes is a washed-up, out-of-work actor hired by Dr. Watson to be the frontman while he (Dr. Watson) focuses on solving the cases.

This Sherlock has no idea what to do, and he’s a drunk. He’s always out of money because he gambles and loves women. Watson, on the other hand, is a gentleman, a master of deductive reasoning, and doesn’t want the fame.

It was Watson’s love for investigation that led him to use his skills to help people and make money on the side by solving their cases and writing books about them. The only twist is, he makes himself the supporting character in his books and writings, and even in the eyes of the world, allowing the actor he hired to do the work of keeping the public entertained.

In this movie, we have two very good veteran actors: Ben Kingsley playing Dr. Watson and Michael Caine playing Sherlock Holmes, making the best of every screen time they got. Both were an awesome pair, the power they showed in the movie is evident when Watson has to coach Holmes on what to say in public, with Holmes struggling to get his lines right.

The movie is also about a case where Professor Moriarty has stolen the plates for the five-pound notes in order to start printing his own.
Elsewhere, we see Watson tired of working with the actor playing Holmes and firing him, attempting to shift the focus off Holmes and onto himself. The plan didn’t work, as people refused to take him seriously, which led to him rehiring the actor to play Holmes again for this last case.

Things got out of hand really fast, with the disappearance of Watson and Holmes left alone to try and figure out what was going on and how to find Watson.

With no clue where to start, Holmes—with a little help from Watson’s friends, who are in on the secret of who the real detective is—has to find Watson and save the British economy from Moriarty.

It’s a nice classic, one I enjoyed seeing again. Watching it for a second time, made me notice that the movie drags at times, especially when it could’ve picked up the pace. And the twist on Sherlock Holmes is an interesting idea, but the execution feels a bit off, with some scenes lacking the emotional punch needed to make them land.