Perhaps not the best choice for Mother's Day, but...
Yesterday I once again used the DVR and this time it was to record a GOOD family movie from recent years-very good, as a matter of fact. Before last night, the only Laika I had seen was Missing Link; I enjoyed that but understood from hearsay that all their previous work was better than that. As I know at least some on Letterboxd will be aghast I hadn't seen more from that cult favorite studio, it was a wise choice to see this when it was broadcast on FXM. I won't say why it was a curious choice for Mother's Day (and that day for me will be different for the rest of my life after what happened last year) but I was able to handle that and I see that Laika movies also belong on the list of worthwhile movies for all my little nephews... I'd rather them see quality movies rather than rubbish full of burp and fart jokes.
It is a standard heroes journey tale starring the titular Kubo, a young boy living in a feudal Japan village who has a single mother and they are in hiding as some members of their family are after them. He eventually finds such wacky companions as a beetle/human and a snow monkey as this natural storyteller goes on a real life quest for an item. Besides telling an interesting story with some intriguing adult themes that blends in various aspects of Japanese folklore that is respectful of the culture, it always features gorgeous stop-motion animation (which was also influenced by such native techniques as origami, ink wash painting & Ukiyo-e art) which looked stellar at times, several big action sequences, and an appropriate soundtrack.
Even if this may have a few moments that would be scary for the real young ones, if I could handle Large Marge when I was less than 10 years old and see all of Pee-Wee's Big Adventure... it won't take me many years to see the rest of Laika's output.
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