Coco review

COCO:

A VISUAL MARVEL THAT STRUMS YOUR HEARTSTRINGS LIKE A GUITAR AND FILLS YOU WITH EMOTION!

By Nico Beland

Movie Review: **** out of 4

DISNEY/PIXAR

Miguel and his family in Disney/Pixar’s Coco

            One day some executives from Pixar Animation Studios saw The Book of Life and thought “Not only can we do that but we’re going to make it even better!”. That’s where their latest animated feature, Coco comes in based around the Day of the Dead and focuses on a person with a music passion and a guitar, been there done that.

            While I thought Book of Life was a solid animated film, Coco pretty much knocked it to the ground. This movie is incredible with gorgeous animation, imaginative artistry dead or alive, a colorful cast of characters, and a story that shows the importance of family, culture, life, and death in a family-friendly yet very mature and effective way.

            The film follows a young boy in Mexico named Miguel (voiced by Anthony Gonzalez-The Bridge, Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders) who is aspiring to become a musician and follow in the footsteps of his idol, Ernesto de la Cruz (voiced by Benjamin Bratt-Cloudy with a chance of Meatballs, Despicable Me 2, Doctor Strange). Unfortunately, his family has a generations-old ban on music and forbids Miguel to pursue that dream and would rather have him work as a shoemaker.

            Determined to prove himself, Miguel finds Ernesto’s guitar, plays it, and magically ends up in the Land of the Dead. Along the way he meets a charming trickster named Hector (voiced by Gael García Bernal-Bad Education, The Motorcycle Diaries, Babel) and together they embark on an incredible journey to unlock the truth about his family’s history.

            The film also features the voices of Alanna Ubach (The Brady Bunch Movie, Legally Blonde, Rango) as Mamá Imelda, Renée Victor (Weeds, ER, Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones) as Abuelita Elena, Alfonso Arau (Run Cougar Run, Romancing the Stone, Three Amigos) as Papá Julio, Selene Luna (The Cho Show, My Bloody Valentine 3D, Star-ving) as Tia Rosita, Jaime Camil (Zapata, Jane the Virgin, The Secret Life of Pets) as Papá Enrique, Sofía Espinosa (Capadocia, Gloria, Hasta Que Te Conoci) as Mamá Luisa, Edward James Olmos (Blade Runner, Stand & Deliver, 2 Guns) as Chicharrón, Carla Medina (Zapping Zone, Toy Story 3) as Tia Gloria, sprinter, Roberto Donati as Papá Franco, Luis Valdez (Which Way Is Up?, La Bamba, The Cisco Kid) as Tio Berto, Natalia Cordova-Buckley (Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., McFarland, USA, Bates Motel) as Frida Kahlo, and John Ratzenberger (Superman I and II, Toy Story trilogy, Cars trilogy) as Juan Ortodoncia.

            Overall, Coco is a visually dazzling and emotional journey that takes a concept we’ve seen before in movies and manages to make something completely original out of it. I was hardly thinking about The Book of Life while I was watching this movie aside from a few comments, I was too busy being entranced in this eye-candy world that Pixar created and I was laughing and crying along for the ride.

            The animation is absolutely beautiful and the designs of the worlds are filled to the brim with imagination, and I’m not just talking about the Land of the Dead here. Despite the film taking place in a fictional village in Mexico the design of it seems extremely legit through its colors and lightings and depictions of Mexican culture, definitely looks like Pixar was doing its homework.

            The Land of the Dead is ironically very lively and overflowing with color and seeing all this imagination and magic on the big-screen makes you feel like you’re really there. It’s also very reminiscent of other Disney and Pixar fictional worlds from films like Monsters Inc. or Zootopia.

            What truly steals the show is the story and how it tackles themes of family, culture, life, and death in a poignant and intelligent way. This could easily be dumbed-down and clichéd fluff morals just for kids but through clever writing, strong characters, and unexpected twists and turns, you get an inspiring animated film that can touch the hearts of even the biggest sourpusses.

            Coco is up there with the Toy Story trilogy, Finding Nemo, Up, and Inside Out as one of the best Pixar films I’ve ever seen. Don’t be fooled by its cutesy marketing, there is something for everyone here and a worthy film to watch with your entire family after a big Thanksgiving meal.

            This is my go-to family film of the year after some underwhelming and even terrible duds in the family animation genre. I tolerated Cars 3 and Despicable Me 3 as serviceable family films and despised The Emoji Movie and The Nut Job 2, but unlike any of those movies Coco offers beautiful animation, engaging characters, and a powerful story that shows that Pixar respects children and they respect adults as well.