Coco Movie Review

Coco is about a 12 year old boy named Miguel (voiced by Anthony Gonzales), born in a Mexican family that had banned music due to something that happened in the past, which was bad news for Miguel since he aspires to become a musician and become like his musical idol Ernesto de la Cruz (voiced by Benjamin Bratt). As if hiding his passion for music from his family was hard enough, Miguel due to some crazy circumstances suddenly found himself in the land of the dead where he met Hector (Gael Garcia Bernal) a trickster who joined him in his adventure of self discovery and learning the importance of family and chasing your dreams.

photo from: imdb.com

Coco is computer animated fantasy musical adventure film made by Pixar and released under Walt Disney Pictures and directed by Lee Unkrich and co-directed by Adrian Molina that features an all Latina cast. It nearly went under my radar. There's very little to no hype about it in the Philippines, and a story about a boy chasing his dreams isn't exactly something new when it comes to stories. A movie plot that happens during the Mexican holiday of Dia de Muerto or Day of the Dead isn't exactly exciting unless it's a horror-action flick or a zombie movie. The movie title itself is as plain as you can get but I couldn't be so glad that I was able to watch it.

photo from: imdb.com

The movie's visuals were so amazing that you can't tell if they are actually animated or if they put a real background and just animated the characters on top of them. Pixar surely knows their stuff and has been upping the bar more and more, you got to see it for yourself on the big screen. The characters are so fun to watch that you'll immediately fall in love with them - from the strict yet lovable grandmother Abuelita, right to the dog named Dante. Some of the characters were there for only a short time but when they do appear on the screen, they shine in their own way. There was really not a dull moment in the entire hour and forty five minutes of the movie. The music so fits the scene and the theme so well too.

photo from: imdb.com

The story is where this gem of a movie really shines the brightest. I went to this movie expecting your typical fun-filled coming of age adventure movie you usually find in a kid's animated film, but what I saw in this movie blew my expectations away. Very few could blend adventure, comedy, sadness and tension in one story. There was something here for everyone. If you watched this movie and didn't get the feels then you're probably a rock. This is a story anybody, no matter what your culture our background, can relate to. It's something that Pixar has been known to do so in the past with its earlier movies and it's welcoming to see the studio go back to its roots since the hit and miss that was Cars 3 and the Good Dinosaur.

photo from: imdb.com

The only draw back I see is that the story can be a bit too serious or dark at some parts towards the end and skeletons might turn off some kids but I'm sure they will ignore them since most of this movie is mostly a whole big fun adventure. The characters are well-designed that some might find them cute or adorable. The kids that I saw in the movie while watching it certainly don't seem to mind at least.
 

photo from: imdb.com

Overall verdict, Coco was an amazing movie and I dare say probably one of the best Pixar movies this year. I'll easily put this in my top five best Pixar movies of all time and that is saying something considering Coco is a solo none sequel movie. There's something in here for everyone be it if you're a kid, an adult or a teenager. I couldn't recommend this movie enough. It's worth the ticket price even without the Frozen Short Feature that was included in this movie. Disney and Pixar have done it again. Go watch it. Tell your friends to watch it. Tell your family to watch it. Tell your kids to watch it. This is one movie you clearly should not and would not want to pass. Easily a great 9/10 and a must-see recommendation.