Pixar is a company of very little wrongs. I don’t know of a single studio that has consistently made such great films. The Toy Story trilogy is an easy, and appropriate example – but we also have Finding Nemo and Dory, Monsters Inc., Wall-E, The Incredibles and, my personal favourite, Inside Out. Yes, every now and then then they give us a film like the Cars trilogy and The Good Dinosaur, but for every bad Pixar project there will always be two great ones. So, when I see a film that was poorly advertised – seriously, what an awful teaser this film had – and have no idea what the plot is, what the words Pixar come up, I’m in!
Coco is set in the Mexican Day of the Dead – El Día de los Muertos – which is definitely a unique setting. The story follows a boy whose family, thanks to an old relative of theirs walking out of their lives to pursue his musician dream, has band music from their lives. But he doesn’t want to be restrained by the old tradition, as the pull of music is too much for him to ignore. Much to the dismay of his family. And this had me worried. But thankfully it all picks up once the boy finds himself in the land of the dead. Slowly dying himself the longer he stays there, the kid must receive the blessing from a family member to go home and live. His great great grandmother will only give him her blessing if he gives up his music dream, so he goes to find his great great grandfather. The musician who left his family.
Before he goes into the land of the dead, I was very worried that this was going to be another Brave. When the film hides most of what it is in its advertisement, only to be very generic in story and characters. It felt like Footloose, as well as a few other films that follow this “music is bad” storyline. Once he enters the land of the dead, while it’s not unpredictable, it is very well done. It’s a familiar story told in a different way. It also gets more visually interesting and delivers the films more interesting characters.
The world of the dead is amazing. I have never seen an afterlife so colourful, imaginative and yet completely believable. Whatever your belief on such things is, there is not denying that this feels like a nice afterlife for us. It incorporates the Mexican beliefs and our contemporary world perfectly. I did not expect to see such amazing people and creatures in this film. Whether they are a richly designed skeleton, with the Day of the Dead patterning’s on them, or a luminescent green, flying jaguar monster, everyone in this film is amazing to look at.
The characters are pretty excellent too. They all have fairly simple motives and don’t necessarily change that much over the course of the film. But they are relatable, likeable and are so full of energy and charm that you can’t help but love them. My favourite character is easily this con-artist skeleton who wants to help the kid find his relative, just so that the kid will put his photo on an alter so he can come to the land of the living. Everything about these characters, from the voice acting to the designs, to the animation are as perfect as they need to be.
It’s beautifully animated, but I don’t think I’ll give Pixar points for that anymore. You know the drill; the sky’s blue, water’s wet, Pixar films are gorgeously animated. But what Pixar have also managed time and time again, and what drives this film, is emotional impact. There are so many moments in Coco that are sold by how they get to you. There are numerous moments that will make you shed at least one tear in this. Others will keep a smile on your face. An example comes at the beginning.
The boy is talking to his great grandma, Coco, about the simple things, like what he saw today or what his favourite wrester was doing. He knows that she doesn’t really understand him, but she is always happy hearing him talk – her energy in listening to him talk passionately builds on his passionate energy and they both love it. It reminds me of when I used to do the same with my grandad – talking about dinosaurs or animals and we would both just enjoy listening and talking because we both loved how passionate the conversations were, even though I knew that he didn’t really understand most of it. That’s what this film does, it hits you on a very relatable level, better than most in recent memory.
It’s not without its shortcomings. The opening did lower my expectations. And yes, what you think is going to happen will happen. You might not be prepared for certain twists, or even how dark Coco gets towards the end, but on the whole, the story isn’t entirely unheard of. I also found some of the living characters a little too cut and dry. You have the over protective grandmother who upholds the traditions. There’s the father who doesn’t really listen. The sassy sister and the older brother who thinks he’s wiser than he is are here too. But, to be fair they’re not where the focus is.
After a rocky start I had a blast with Coco. It’s one of Pixar’s better film of recent years – I prefer it to the likes of The Good Dinosaur, Brave, Cars 3 and Up. I just loved it and would recommend it to anyone. It’s fun for whatever your tastes are and whatever your age is. My screening was full of adults and only a handful of kids, so you don’t need to worry about this being a kid’s film. You’ll most likely cry and you’ll certainly laugh. But mostly, you’ll feel happy.
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