Pay close attention to everything you see, a narrator warns in the opening moments of this lavish animated film — “if you look away, even for an instant, our hero will surely perish.” Ominous stuff for a kids’ movie, perhaps, but the Laika studio has always had goth-y sensibilities (“Coraline,” “ParaNorman”). Making his directorial debut, Travis Knight works in an ancient Japanese setting for the tale of a one-eyed boy named Kubo (Art Parkinson, “Game of Thrones”) living under a curse imparted by his vengeful, supernatural grandfather (Ralph Fiennes).
As in all the best children’s stories, the resourceful Kubo is basically unparented, his mother still traumatized from a close-shave escape during which her son lost his eye. The boy provides for them by playing his shamisen — a Japanese stringed instrument — in their small town, magically bringing his cast of origami characters to life.
When Kubo accidentally breaks the rules of the curse, he must leave his mother and flee, accompanied by a stern but adoring monkey guardian (Charlize Theron). Eventually they’re joined by a hulking beetle-man (Matthew McConaughey, tamping down his trademark drawl) who’s adept with both weapons and wisecracks.
Knight’s sophisticated stop-motion style puts “Kubo and the Two Strings” head and shoulders above most kids’ fare, save Pixar; this is one movie that earns its 3-D surcharge. Kubo is swept along on a satisfyingly epic and occasionally chilling adventure, from snowy mountains to turbulent seas. Rooney Mara has a sinister turn as a pair of witchy sisters, and Theron and McConaughey add snap to the banter between monkey and beetle.
The scrappy Kubo may be in ancient Japan, but he’s got the asymmetrical haircut and guitar skills of a little punk rocker — he’s a tween protagonist with (benign) edge. And 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.