The latest entry to come from the extraordinary Pixar Studios, Coco is a story about a boy with a dream. Miguel (Anthony Gonzalez) wants to become a musician like his hero, the legendary Ernesto de la Cruz (Benjamin Bratt, ‘Miss Congeniality’). Due to something that happened generations ago however, music was banned by his family, who instead want Miguel to continue in the family business of cobbling. During the day of the dead celebrations Miguel acts against his family’s wishes and finds himself transported to the land of the remembered – the first place people go after death. In order to return to the land of the living, Miguel must seek out and get the blessing of his great-great-grandfather.
So far I’ve yet to read a bad review about Coco, which is understandable because it’s a charming movie. As expected from Pixar the animation is fantastic; and the worlds they imagined are incredibly detailed. The story (which is essentially about the importance of family) was well written, achieving both comedy and pathos. Ironically for a film with a bunch of skeletons they also managed to create characters with layers.
The music in Coco has received a lot of praise and even had a song (Remember Me) surprisingly win the Best Original Song category at the Critics Choice Awards. I have to agree that the music is really good, although I didn’t find any of the individual songs particularly memorable.
I also had a bit of a problem with Miguel’s family when it came to their attitude towards music. The reason behind their banning of music went back generations and to be quite honest it seems ridiculous that they would stop a child from enjoying himself due to something that happened so long ago. It made it difficult for me to like his family as I just kept thinking that they should really have gotten over it by now.
Something else that bothered me slightly was how early I noticed a twist. It didn’t spoil my enjoyment of the movie overall, but the fact that I figured it out about half way through the film did make me question the writing. I know the film is aimed mainly at children, but I’m sure many of them will notice it too as it is incredibly obvious. I’d expect better from a Pixar movie.
In 2014 a film was released called ‘The Book of Life’. It was an animation, set it Mexico, involving the day of the dead. It also had a young protagonist who wanted to become a musician against the wishes of his family. It also took us to the bright and colourful land of the remembered. Both films also feature a large bell which plays a role in a character’s demise. Now I’m not claiming that Coco ripped off ‘The Book of Life’; but it has to be said that there are a lot of similarities between the two movies that cannot be ignored. Personally I think Coco is a slightly better film than ’The Book of Life’, but having seen both you do genuinely have to question Pixar for their lack of originality.
This is not a criticism of Coco itself, but I was disappointed by the fact that this was the first Pixar movie not to be preceded by a short film. I believe there was a 22 minute ‘short’ that North American audiences were shown prior to Coco called ‘Olaf’s Frozen Adventure’; but that it was not received well so they removed it for European audiences. To be honest I’m disappointed and surprised Pixar didn’t have another short film ready to insert instead.
I’m coming towards the end of my review and I want to mention the ending of Coco. I’m obviously not going to discuss what happens, but what I will say is that it was slightly emotional and a perfect way to end what was a solid, if not spectacular, movie.
Coco has been taking home the Best Animated Film award at the major awards ceremonies which have taken place so far; and I fully expect this trend to continue at the Oscars.
Personally I don’t think it’s even the best Pixar film released this year; that honour goes to Cars 3 in my opinion. That said, I did enjoy Coco; and if it does win the Oscar I won’t be disappointed. I’d probably rank Coco somewhere in the middle of my Pixar list; and although I didn’t love it, it’s certainly a decent movie which all the family can enjoy.