Coco Review

It's time for more Pixar tropes! And a vote to determine next week's review!


I've been thinking a lot about The Good Dinosaur in the lead up to this movie. The Good Dinosaur was Pixar's lowest grossing movie and has been forgotten in just two years. Literally every other Pixar franchise is exactly that, a franchise consisting of sequels, merchandise, and moments that can rank as Pixar's greatest. The Good Dinosaur had none of that. It had no sequels, was swiftly forgotten, was never really merchandised, and had nothing that really stood out. Looking back at my original review, I said that it was a safe movie with a lot of Pixar tropes that was held up by amazing animation. I still think that's all true, but I think I may have figured out what The Good Dinosaur was missing; energy.

It felt like a movie done by the books. The Good Dinosaur's biggest selling point was its animation, as is pretty much every Pixar movie, but strip that away and you have a movie that could have been done by anyone. Illumination and Dreamworks could have done it. Hell, it reminds me a lot of The Land Before Time, a movie that is held highly in regard by classic animation fans. So maybe The Good Dinosaur just couldn't muster up any high passion or imagination from its creators and that translated to lackluster critical and fan reception.

I bring up The Good Dinosaur because I was worried that Coco would befall the same fate. It's the latest Pixar movie not tied to a franchise, and I couldn't help but shake the feeling that it was going to be a repeat of The Good Dinosaur. Thankfully, it has enough passion and energy to tell an engaging story, it's just that it's a combination of both every Pixar and Disney trope of the past five or so years. But at least it looks nice!

Miguel is a kid growing up in Mexico, and it's almost Dia de los Muertos, the Day of the Dead. In it, the living honor their dead relatives, but Miguels' family doesn't honor his great-great Grandfather. His great-great Grandfather was a musician and left his family to pursue fame and fortune, do his family, with the exception of his daughter Coco, have developed a hatred for all forms of music. Now Miguel wants to pursue a musical career like his great-great Grandfather and is certain that his great-great Grandfather is Ernesto de la Cruz, the world's greatest musician. Miguel runs away from home and ends up in the land of the dead to try and visit his great-great grandfather to get his blessing as a musician while running into his dead family members and getting help with a skeleton named Hector who wants someone to remember him since he's a forgotten soul. Together they'll visit de la Cruz and get his blessing for Miguel before the sun rises, trapping Miguel in the land of the dead.

So if you know anything about Disney movies and Pixar movies, I've pretty much spoiled the entire movie in that paragraph, and I apologize. Coco doesn't pull any tricks with its premise and tells a simple story, but it's probably a bit too simple. In the first five minutes of the movie, I knew exactly what was going to happen from beginning to end, it was just a matter of how long until they get there. I don't know if it's because I've seen a metric ton of Disney movies, but I didn't feel anything when these big twists happen. I just sat there and nodded my head. If you've seen Frozen, Big Hero 6, Zootopia, or Moana, Coco is going to be VERY familiar to you.

At least Coco excels at its visuals. The land of the dead is stunning to look at just by how much detail is in every frame. When you see a massive shot of the world, or a party with thousands of guests, you can see just how much care went into every frame. It wasn't just the technology on display here, it was the dedication to making the movie look as good as it does. It would have been easy to make the land of the dead look like a generic location, but it truly looks like it has a Mexican flare and aesthetic to it.

Truthfully, the best thing about this movie is just how much the aesthetic really rocks. It's not every day that you see a movie that pays careful attention to the culture that it depicts, and like Moana, there was a lot of attention that went into every aspect of this movie, whether it's how the characters look, what the world is like, or the details about Dia de los Muertos that Disney gets right.

But really, Coco is a movie that you can tell from the trailer whether or not you'll like it or not. It doesn't pull a fast one, and if you watch all of the trailer, you can piece together every beat of the story and when each moment will happen. Kids won't notice hopefully, but if you're looking for just a bit of that Disney magic, Coco will suffice. At the end of the day, that's all that Coco is. It's a fine movie that doesn't do anything too extreme or out of the ordinary, but it has a sense of style to it. It's at least better than The Good Dinosaur, because you can actually tell a lot of effort went to making the movie as authentic as possible. Between this and The Book of Life, Dia de los Muertos has been treated with a lot of respect by animation companies.

So.. that's really about it. It's a Pixar movie that's solid. It's nothing outstanding, but it's still a good time.

Look, I'm still coming off of a mega food coma with the family, so there's no fancy analysis here. See Coco.

            

One more thing before you go though! From the looks of it, I will not be able to get a review of The Disaster Artist out before next Sunday. It just isn't really playing in any area around me. So instead of a review, I'm going to do another personal Top 10 list. So like my favorite movies, video games, or characters of the past couple of years, this is another chance just to get a better look at what makes me tick, but I'm allowing YOU to choose what I talk about. I created a strawpoll, link below, where you can vote on whether I talk about my Top 10 Favorite Anime, my Top 10 Favorite Comics, or my Top 10 Worst Movies. Cast your vote, voting will close 11:59 p.m. November 30th, so get your votes in, and I'll see you all Sunday!

Click here to access the strawpoll to vote!