15 Most Underrated Movies Of 2016

Featuring the vocal talents of Matthew McConaughey, Charlize Theron and Ralph Fiennes, Kubo and the Two Strings is the stop-motion animated tale of a young boy who goes on a quest to find his late father’s magical suit of armour to defeat vengeful villain the Moon King. It’s exactly the kind of charming but often bittersweet and dark animation we’ve come to expect from Laika, the studio behind the likes of Coraline and The Boxtrolls, and like those films it enchanted critics. But sadly, in a year dominated by big budget Disney-Pixar animations, Kubo and the Two Strings was all but eclipsed and failed to make as much of an impact with audiences.

It’s easy to see why other kid-oriented films released this year like Finding Dory and Zootopia had more appeal than Kubo and the Two Strings. Whereas as they have that recognisable Disney sentiment, a cast of cute anthropomorphic animals and fairly simple plotlines, Kubo works on a much more metaphorical level and touches on the kind of realistically sad subject matter that many kids’ films stay away from for fear of alienating young minds. And that’s a crying shame because not only is it beautifully animated, it deals with surprisingly realistic emotions despite its fantastical premise – exactly the kind of film kids should be watching.