Kubo opens with a superb line ‘If you must blink do it now!’ and from that point on you are hooked into the adventure. Set in ancient Japan, Kubo (Art Parkinson) is a young boy who lives with his sick mother (Charlize Theron) at the top of a mountain outside a small village where he travels every day to tell epic stories using his power to magically manipulate paper using his guitar (or Shamisen to be technical). These tales tell the story of a samurai warrior called Hanzo, who is Kubo’s father that he believes died protecting the family when he was a baby. He returns home each evening before sunset as his mother has told him never to stay out after dark otherwise his twin Auntie’s (Rooney Mara) and his grandfather Raiden, also known as the Moon King (Ralph Fiennes) will come for Kubo as they want to steal is remaining eye since his Grandfather stole one when Kubo was only a baby.

When he finds out from the villagers of a nearby cemetery where people light lanterns to communicate with deceased family members he decides to try and contact his father but inadvertently stays too long and his aunties appear to capture him. His mother manages to come to the rescue and tells him that he must find his father’s magic armour, but when he awakes he finds himself in a strange land and with his three companions, a monkey, an origami figure and an insect samurai he must undertake an adventure to find the magical armour and defeat this grandfather.

Using stop motion animation, Kubo is one of the most visually beautiful movies you will see this year and when you throw in an excellent score to accompany it you are already onto a winner. Using a similar premise the Laika studios have already successfully used this set up to bring us both Coraline and ParaNorman, but in my opinion this tops both of those movies.

Although it may sound like a strange plot the movie is told so skillfully that it perfectly brings you along for the ride and it’s only after the movie ends you realise just how dark some of the story actually was and the studio has taken a chance that the younger audience will be able to handle the heavy themes of revenge, sacrifice and loss but with it masked behind the colour, animation and joy the movie brings I think they got it just right. Don’t get me wrong, there’s plenty of humour and light hearted moments as well and it is a testament to the excellent voice acting that you feel such a bond with the characters but the sisters have t be one of the most sinister things I have seen in a kids movie as yet. When they appear they are really creepy, as they float along looking like an evil version of the freedom fighter V in black hats and capes. As the adventure progresses and we find out more about Kubo, his skills and his companions we see their sense of honour develop as we discover more about them and their motivations and there’s a great character arc for each of them.

There is very little to complain about in the movie, I could argue that the Grandfathers motivation is a little weak but I’m being picky. The plot could be deemed a little bizarre and dark but it’s supposed to be a magical tale so again it would be very harsh to criticise that, so you are left with one of those rare kids movies that adults can also really enjoy which whisks you away on a magical journey and you are more than happy to be swept along for the ride.

DJ Speaks Rating: 7 Out Of 10