Kubo and the Two Strings
Focus Features | Release Date: August 19, 2016 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
84
METASCORE
Universal acclaim based on 38 Critic Reviews
Positive:
35
Mixed:
3
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
Total FilmJordan FarleyJan 21, 2017
Visually astonishing and touchingly told, Kubo is utterly wonderful. Read full review
100
Philadelphia InquirerTirdad DerakhshaniAug 19, 2016
If you want to expose your children to a work of art with real soul, you could do a lot worse than Kubo and the Two Strings. Read full review
100
HitfixDrew McWeenyAug 18, 2016
Kubo works because it is so direct, so honest about the emotional story it’s telling. Knight may have epic ambitions, but he keeps the stakes very personal. Read full review
100
The New York TimesGlenn KennyAug 18, 2016
The action is gorgeously fluid, the idiosyncratic 3-D visual conceits (including floating eyeballs undersea) are startling, and the story and its metaphors resolve in unexpected and moving ways. Read full review
100
Washington PostMichael O'SullivanAug 18, 2016
"Kubo" is both extraordinarily original and extraordinarily complex. Read full review
100
Village VoiceBilge EbiriAug 13, 2016
From its opening image — of a distraught woman battling massive ocean waves on a moonlit night — to its surprisingly ambiguous final shot — of what, I won't say — Kubo and the Two Strings sears itself into your brain. Read full review
100
IndieWireDavid EhrlichAug 12, 2016
Staggeringly beautiful and immensely true, the best animated film of 2016 — one of the year’s best films of any kind, really. Read full review
100
The Hollywood ReporterMichael RechtshaffenAug 12, 2016
Representing a dazzling artistic leap forward for LAIKA, the stop-motion animation studio’s fourth feature — and first full-blown fantasy — is an eye-popping delight that deftly blends colorful folklore with gorgeous, origami-informed visuals to immersive effect. Read full review
91
ConsequenceDominick Suzanne-MayerAug 25, 2016
A simple story told well can still be effective if the emotional resonance underneath it comes through. In Kubo, it absolutely does, thanks to the uniformly excellent voice performances. Read full review
91
The PlaylistKimber MyersAug 17, 2016
Kubo and the Two Strings feels like a miracle, evoking joy, surprise and wonder in its audience. Read full review
91
Entertainment WeeklyLeah GreenblattAug 12, 2016
A visually stunning, richly imagined oasis in a sea of candy-colored safety, and one of the first truly original movies of the year so far. Read full review
90
ScreenCrushBritt HayesAug 25, 2016
Displaying the mastery of visuals and storytelling of a more established veteran, Laika president Travis Knight has gone beyond merely crafting a confident directorial debut; he’s made the studio’s best film to date. Read full review
90
Los Angeles TimesJustin ChangAug 18, 2016
It recognizes that our most cherished legends are an endless source of consolation in times of suffering and loss, as well as a vital repository of cultural and generational memory. If that message sounds trite or familiar, it has rarely been driven home with this much conviction and intensity of feeling. Read full review
90
Arizona RepublicKerry LengelAug 18, 2016
The story is captivating from the very first moments. Read full review
90
VarietyPeter DebrugeAug 12, 2016
With such awe-inspiring artistry, designed so as to never distract from the material it serves, Kubo and the Two Strings stands as the sort of film that feels richer with each successive viewing, from the paper-folded Laika logo at the beginning (an early taste of the stunning origami sequences to follow) to the emotional resonance of its final shot. Read full review
89
Austin ChronicleJosh KupeckiAug 17, 2016
Visually inventive and offering up a complex view of family interaction, Kubo and the Two Strings is another feather in the cap for Laika, and a marvel to behold. Read full review
88
ReelViewsJames BerardinelliAug 19, 2016
The best animated feature (at least thus far) of 2016. Read full review
88
USA TodayBrian TruittAug 18, 2016
It is definitely the summer for talking animals taking over the cinema, but Kubo manages to rise above the rest of its peers with a wondrous coming-of-age tale full of ancient soul. Read full review
88
RogerEbert.comChristy LemireAug 18, 2016
One of the most impressive elements of Kubo and the Two Strings — besides its dazzling stop-motion animation, its powerful performances and its transporting score — is the amount of credit it gives its audience, particularly its younger viewers. Read full review
88
Boston GlobeTy BurrAug 18, 2016
The movie is genuinely creative, genuinely outside-the-box, and often genuinely scary; parents of toddlers and nightmare-prone children are herewith warned. Read full review
88
The Seattle TimesMoira MacdonaldAug 18, 2016
As Kubo warns, early on, don’t blink — you might miss something. Something that — and what a treat this is — you’ve never seen before. Read full review
88
Movie NationRoger MooreAug 16, 2016
An imaginative, scary and wonderfully rendered stop-motion fright. Read full review
83
The A.V. ClubJesse HassengerAug 17, 2016
This is Laika’s least droll, least ghoulish feature so far; the plotting is even more dreamlike than "Coraline." Read full review
83
TheWrapSam AdamsAug 14, 2016
It’s not a flawless movie, but there’s real magic in it, and that’s more important, and no less rare, than perfection. Read full review
80
Time OutTomris LafflyAug 18, 2016
The film doesn’t quite cut loose to hit emotional high notes, but Regina Spektor’s velvety cover of “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” poignantly completes a sweet, generous film. Read full review
80
Wall Street JournalJoe MorgensternAug 18, 2016
The first and last things to be said in this limited space about Kubo and the Two Strings are that it’s a showcase for some of the most startlingly beautiful animation in recent — and not so recent — memory. Read full review
80
New York Daily NewsRaakhee MirchandaniAug 16, 2016
The tale is layered and lovely, although talk about the real self, eternity and death will stun the adults in the audience. Read full review
80
EmpireJonathan PileAug 14, 2016
It’s a beautifully animated tale (keep your eyes on the way Kubo’s hair moves) that balances story with comedy and moments of effective (if light) horror. Read full review
75
ObserverOliver JonesAug 18, 2016
The stunning visuals and beautifully conceived milieu distract the viewer from the fact that the quest structure of the story is McGuffin-like and the conclusion emotionally muddled. Read full review
75
New York PostSara StewartAug 18, 2016
Despite a traditional-seeming quest for a suit of armor and a sword, the film’s intrinsic message is all about the transformative powers of music and love. It’s a movie the whole family can rock out to. Read full review
75
Chicago Sun-TimesBill ZweckerAug 18, 2016
I cannot stress enough how truly stunning the brilliant visuals are in this movie. Laika has again crafted a world that is such an original vision, one that will live on as a new classic in the world of animation. Read full review
75
The Film StageJordan RaupAug 12, 2016
Steeped in the mythology and fables of Japanese history, it’s another fantastical adventure from the studio with innovation and awe at every turn, despite a story that could benefit from having more specificity and focus. Read full review
75
Slant MagazineOleg IvanovAug 12, 2016
It offers a powerful metaphor for the manner in which we carry the memories of our departed inside ourselves. Read full review
65
The VergeBryan BishopAug 12, 2016
If only there was as much thought put into the characters as there was the visuals. For all of his convoluted backstory, Kubo is a remarkably unconflicted character, and barely faces a moment of internal turmoil throughout the entire film. Read full review
63
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Ellen BraitAug 18, 2016
The characters feel underdeveloped, to the point where it’s sometimes difficult to remain invested in their triumphs and failures. Read full review
58
Tampa Bay TimesSteve PersallAug 16, 2016
Kubo and the Two Strings is lovely to behold, if viewers manage to keep their eyes open. It's an animated doozy and drowser at once, an uncomfortable mix of Miyazaki-style imagination and generic dullness. Read full review
50
San Francisco ChronicleWalter AddiegoAug 18, 2016
What Laika achieves is an effective mixture of hyper-real and hyper-stylized, a combination that keeps “Kubo” appealing to the eye for audiences of all ages. If the film’s plotting and dialogue had measured up, “Kubo” might have been a masterpiece. Read full review
40
The GuardianJordan HoffmanAug 12, 2016
Little kids will be bored, as there are only a few scenes with any action, and of those, only one, featuring an enormous skeleton with swords sticking out of its skull, has any oomph. Read full review
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