Review of Coco (2017) by Robert G — 19 Dec 2017

Ah, Pixar... you certainly have a formula, but damned if that formula doesn't work every time. This movie is their latest installment, and it's so refreshing to see them put out a film that so fully embraces a different culture.

This movie actually practices what Hollywood has been preaching for a long time, and celebrates diversity on multiple levels. The story follows a Mexican boy, Miguel, and his very Mexican family and ancestry.

Every single character in the movie is a brown person (or used to be, before they got dead), and it's about damn time. That alone makes it deserving of high marks, but this is Pixar, so you know there is also going to be an engaging story (check) with a poignant lesson at the end (check), and probably some laughs and tears (check and check) along the way.

The plot follows little Miguel as he yearns to be a musician despite his family's vehement opposition to anything related to music. His journey takes him over to the other side where he meets his ancestors, because reasons (the film doesn't even try to explain it).

The story has its ups and downs... it doesn't always make sense and takes a while to get going, but it pays off at the end, when it becomes clear why the movie has the title it does. And the animation! It's incredibly vibrant and lavish, every scene just pops.

.. it adds so much fun and exuberance to the "underworld", I wondered why Miguel was even trying to get back to the land of the living. This film is not as funny as I've grown to expect from Pixar, but on the flip side, it delivers big time on the sentiment.

This movie features one of the purest and sweetest scenes that I have seen in ages, and it packs a wallop of an emotional punch. That scene alone is worth the price of admission. This isn't Pixar's finest, but a great family film with a powerful message about the importance of family and tradition.