Coco (2017 Film) Review

With all the sequels Pixar's done of late, will Coco, their last dated original film, stand out from the pack?

Coco is directed by Lee Unkrich, the man who previously directed Toy Story 3. Gael García Bernal, Benjamin Bratt, and Anthony Gonzalez as its lead, Miguel, are among the few stars assembled for this Día de Muertos-based adventure.

Every Pixar film is family-friendly and that doesn't change with Coco. I would, however, note that this is one of the studio's more deeper films in recent years. Coco deals with matters more adult than your average animated, or even Pixar, flick. Like The Incredibles, Up, Brave, and Inside Out, I believe that Coco actually earns its PG rating, unlike previous PG-rated installments, Finding Dory and The Good Dinosaur. If you've seen those former four movies, you probably have an idea of what you are getting into with Coco. It's such an emotional, deep film, so be prepared to cry.

Save for Inside Out, Coco easily is one of the best Pixar films to come out in the last five years. This is destined to go down as one of Pixar's best. Although I liked Cars 3 earlier this year, Coco is a way better film. Whether its because of its characters, animation quality, or more interesting and original story. The amount of care put into this film is extraordinary and its faithfulness to the Mexican holiday is one of the film's many achievements.

Día de Muertos Setting

I would not call myself an expert on the Mexican Day of the Dead holiday, but I did know what the holiday was before this movie was even announced. From what I know about it, Coco did a great job educating what the holiday is about to people that may not have heard of it before. It's not just taught by exposition, but I'd say that the entire story ties to what Día de Muertos is all about. With all that care on display in this movie, you can tell that the filmmakers did their research into Mexican culture by adding all the intricate details displayed in the movie. For once, a movie made in America, that was based on another culture, did not disappoint the represented audience it was trying to appeal to. From the way Mexico has responded to the film, Pixar did their job in making sure this was movie was faithful to the holiday, as well as the culture.

With the more made-up elements that Coco's story required, Pixar went the distance on how to properly flesh out and bring to life the Land of the Dead. There was room to use creativity and the people making this movie did not waste their time. Seeing as creativity is one of Pixar's strengths, this isn't much of a surprise. The depiction of the Land of the Dead is brought to life with vibrant and colorful animation. Between the Frozen "short" and the actual movie, there was a small clip shown on how the animators constructed some of the set pieces in the movie and once the movie starts, it immediately hooks you into this world and this movie, more specifically the Land of the Dead, is a prime example of animation at its finest. The world itself mixes old and new simultaneously and while it is odd to see things such as computers in the Land of the Dead, that's easily forgiven due to how inviting the world is with the way it looks alone. It seems like a place I would want to visit, assuming I didn't turn into a skeleton.

Miguel/The Rivera's

The fact that Anthony Gonzalez is new to being an actor, surprises me. As I was watching his performance, Gonzalez seemed like he was a professional actor for a long time. It wasn't until I looked him up, that I realized that he was a new actor. With his role as Miguel, Gonzalez hits a home run. There's no better way you can put it. Miguel has such a relatable and naive personality and Gonzalez captures that perfectly with only his vocals translating to the animated character. As we go on his journey, that's when Gonzalez shines the most. Not only because he captures my feeling of wonder at going to such a unique place, but because of a warmth that emanates from the character when he reunites with his deceased family members.

By far, the most appealing thing about this movie, to me, is the idea of being able to reunite with your ancestors. That's what the holiday is about that's this movie's soul. Coco is a perfect family movie for that reason. There's a lot to be gained from children watching this movie. Not only children are entertained, but so are adults. The way this family is depicted in Coco, causes you to have a desire to brush up on your ancestry. I went and saw this movie on thanksgiving with my dad's side of the family and it could not have been a perfect experience. What I mean by "causes you to have a desire to brush up on your ancestry," this movie's sole purpose isn't to get you to go file through your family history. It's more of a bonus from the movie's message than an insistence.

Score/Songs

Coco marks many firsts for Pixar. One of the more prominent ones being that it is the first musical for the studio. If this is to be the first in a string of many musicals done by Pixar, they have hit the ground running.

Robert Lopez and Kritsten Anderson-Lopez, the same duo that wrote the songs for Frozen, outdo themselves with "Remember Me." It's a significantly better song than any of the songs that were done for Frozen, and they did great work there. That's the only song they did and the other songs are just as good. "Un Poco Loco" was my other favorite of the film, due to the use of the instruments in that song as well as those that sang it.

Michael Giacchino's accompanying score was instantly enjoyable. He brings in all the music associated with Mexican culture, whether it is Salsa, Mariachi, or Mexican Son. I found every one of this to be enjoyable. Somehow the themes just clicked with me. When it started playing in the opening logos, I knew I was in for a treat. From beginning to end, it never failed to provide an extra layer of entertainment to the movie.

Olaf's Frozen Adventure

Perhaps the biggest flaw about the Coco experience was the short that played in front of it. What was originally supposed to be a holiday special to air on ABC or Disney Channel, Olaf's Frozen Adventure turned into the "short" that would play in front of Pixar's Coco.

It's not confirmed on why this was the case, but it was reported somewhere that because The Good Dinosaur (Pixar's last original movie) became Pixar's least successful film financially, Pixar, along with Disney, decided to put this Frozen "short" in hopes that more people would go to see Coco. That's why you saw a trailer for this short in front of Cars 3 and why, whenever you saw a Coco poster, you saw a tag that read something like "Catch Olaf's Frozen Adventure when you see Coco."

When I first heard that a Frozen short would play in front of Coco, I was slightly disappointed, because that would mean that there wouldn't be an original Pixar short, something that's been constantly good throughout the studio's existence. It wasn't until a few days before my seeing Coco, that I found out that this "short" would be twenty-one minutes long. That, combined with all the previews and ads, meant that it'd be at least forty minutes before the movie actually started.

The length was a huge burden when I was watching the short firsthand. It did feel like it was longer than the traditional five to seven minute runtime for a short. At many points, it was a slog and was going on too long. That's the thing that surprised me the most about it. I'm no fan of Frozen. I do recognize that Disney found great success by churning out the same old princess tale, but I did not expect the short to drag on as long as it did.

The story itself is sweet, has a few laughs, and serves as an alright expansion of this world. It's got too many songs, though. Literally, eighty to ninety percent of the dialogue is people singing. None of them will, thankfully, get stuck in your head, but there's no particular standout either. The songs seem very disposable.

While this may not go down as one of the best Christmas-set shorts, this is an alright entry into the Frozen canon, but it is the weakest part of seeing Coco in theaters.

Grade: A

I'm having vivid callbacks to Anton Ego's speech at the end of another Pixar film, Ratatouille. Coco may get slow in a few sections of the film, but this is otherwise a perfect entry into the Pixar library. This is destined to be a movie that people will watch every Día de Muertos. I cannot recommend this highly enough. You should definitely see Coco in the theater. You do not have to be a Pixar enthusiast to enjoy it and you should not wait to see it on any of the home media platforms. Do not let the recent news about John Lasseter serve as a deterrent against your seeing Coco. I may not have seen this in 3D, but with the already-immersive world, I imagine that the extra dimension will add an extra layer of enjoyment. If you are wondering if it is necessary, it is not, but it is a recommendation.

Conclusion

This is my review of Coco. I'm starting to put together my ten favorite films of 2017 and you can be sure that Coco will have a place on that list. This, deservedly, should unquestionably win the Best Animated Feature at the Oscars this year and, because Lee Unkrich's Toy Story 3 got it, maybe this'll have a shot at Best Picture. Anyways, let me know in the comments section below what you thought of this review and if you saw the movie, what you thought you thought of it. Feel free to let me know which movie you want me to review next as well. Thanks for reading, I'm the Film Fanatic, bye-bye.