Laika are effectively America's answer to Aardman Animation and so far, they've been a grand job.

It began with the incredible Coraline. Such imagery and vision made that film a spectacle. After that was Paranorman which is another enjoyable feature. Then it was The Boxtrolls, which I have yet to see. But I have heard nothing but positive reviews.

Now, it may be their most ambitious one yet. The trailer was appealing to say the least and the buzz was almost unprecedented for an animated film.

It goes without saying, that the stop-motion animation is extraordinary and probably their most impressive yet. The seamless motion of everything really makes you wonder how much of it genuine stop-motion and how much is helped by CGI. Knowing Laika, a lot of it will be genuine hand made movements.

It introduces us to everything pretty well. From the characters, to the world, to its mythology and you are ready for an adventure. Once the quest gets going, that is when I am fully into this story. We get some great banter between our main characters, the action is thrilling and the imagery just gets better and better.

Like with most films, the third act is probably where this film won't end up in my top 10 of the year. The build-up is great. But the final action set-piece did not fully get me emotionally. The animation is still great. But it did not leave as much of an impact as the middle act did. I think it is due to how the villain turns out and how their intentions were not that interesting or fully explained.

That being said, there are so many positives to this. This is one of those that shows you why the animation genre is in its strongest era ever. The craft put into this film is unprecedented. You can feel the passion ooze out of the screen.
As for the story, the pacing is pretty solid all-round. It is probably their most thoughtful and mature feature to date.
Kids can get a real kick out of it. It is brimming with imagination and it is great to see them push kids to be more imaginative. It is certainly action-packed and when they watch it more times as they get older, then can eventually understand the other themes later on in life. However, I would say any kids under 5 will probably find this too scary. Ages between 5-8, it will depend how they have coped with other scary stuff in films they have seen.

The voice work is top notch. Art Parkinson gave us a lead character in Kubo that we end up routing for. It is to see a child character be annoying, whether he is being billed as the hero or not. Charlize Theron blended into her character so much that I had no idea it was her. Matther McConaughey did as well. But I could eventually hear him talking. But he still gave us a character, and he was the perfect guy to voice him. His playful nature really worked well the design and body language of his character. Amazingly, my favourite character managed to have no dialogue and be made out of paper. Watch out for that character.
Most of the villains were scary, solidly developed and assured me that most young kids will be scared by this.

I think its pretty clear to see, that the technical aspect of this film is the best part of the film. The imagery is phenomenal, there are lots of lasting images and with it being set in Japan, the use of spirits and fantasy is put to good use. The production design has definitely got a chance of some nominations come awards season.

Despite what I have said previously about the final act, it remains to be a very enjoyable adventure story that is suitable for all the family. In a time where franchises and re-make sell the best with kids. It is not often to see an original piece of work be released to a wide audience, let alone one that is very good.
To rank it with other films from Laika. I would rank it second behind Coraline. The imagination is almost as good. But a lot did not feel as strong, lasting or memorable as the whole of Coraline.

This will surely be nominated for best animated film. I personally would not give it the award. But I would still be happy if it took it as well executed stop-motion animation should always be celebrated.

Rating: 8/10