Kubo and the Two Strings:
Originality is hard to come by this day and age—2016, in particular, has been nothing
but remakes, sequels and rehashed ideas.
Kubo and the Two Strings defies such recycling with its own innovative tale that, while based upon Japanese culture, is brimming with creativity and fresh ideas.
Kubo is told as if it’s an ancient story, such as
Journey to the West: wildly imaginative, yet not meant to be taken
too coherently (try to form logic out of the plot events, and you might end up gaining a brain aneurysm). The film is only an hour and forty minutes, yet
feels like it’s exploring a much larger journey (you could separate the story into 6-7 acts). There’s engaging action sequences and rousing drama, yet also time to slow down and give its characters development as they casually bond with one another (as well as interact with the environments they’re traveling through).
As with all Laika films,
Kubo pushes its PG rating to the limit and isn’t afraid to go down darker, more mature paths: handling themes of death and loss openly, yet with tact. Of course I couldn’t write about
Kubo without mentioning its beautiful stop-motion animation: a vibrant, expressive style that vividly brings the plot’s imagination to life (my favorite shot is the reformation of the giant skeleton guardian).
Kubo and the Two Strings is an animated treat, and a film that thrives on innovation.
True Memoirs of an International Assassin:
I love Kevin James, but he really needs to start picking better movies to star in.
True Memoirs of an International Assassin, a Netflix original
not worth watching (even on a rainy day), starts off with a very promising premise before dive-bombing into the arms of unoriginality and stale, roundabout comedy. What the film
should have been was a more down-to-Earth story about a likable average-Joe (Kevin James) trying to write an exciting action novel. The action scenes could come from his (visible) imagination as he tries coming up with fresh ideas for the book: changing them up partway, in a humorous fashion, when they get too clichéd/improbable. Meanwhile, other scenes would have our protagonist consulting with his friends and love interest about the story and what to do/alter when stuck (allowing for character development and witty banter).
Instead, what we got is
this forgettable piece of blandness: a film that throws away any shot at originality in favor of an easy-to-write, pandering-to-the-masses, completely unmemorable plot. In fact,
True Memoirs of an International Assassin is so unmemorable that I completely forgot I wrote about it until accidentally spotting the review while scrolling through my Word documents.
