SYNOPSIS
Coco is the 2017 animated film from Disney/ Pixar, it follows a 12 year old boy named Miguel who’s family has permitted him to pursue his love in music. After going against his family’s wishes, he enters a competition on Day of the Dead after becoming obsessed that music is in his blood and his great-great-grandfather is the legendary Ernesto. After Miguel breaks into Ernesto tomb and plays on Ernesto’s guitar he becomes invisible to the living and only sees the dead (it’s much nicer that it seems) – he has until dawn to escape the Land of the Dead. A journey of self-discovererance helps him to rediscover his family, reunite his family and get justice for his family.
REVIEW
This is my second Pixar review in Reviewbruary, (the first of which you can view here). Honestly speaking, Pixar has hit somewhat of a stonewall in recent years, after the overrated Inside Out (yes, it was bad), the last real Pixar hit came in …… 2010 with Toy Story 3. In recent years Pixar has not had the same luck in its movies as they did in the early 2000’s, a lot of that is arguably down to the choice of a lot more sequels (I know Incredible 2 will be amazing though). In recent years, Pixar has only released a handful of original movies, Inside Out (already established as overrated), Good Dinosaur (who remembers that?) and Brave (you remember that was a Pixar film right?). So, Coco has a lot riding on it and it did deliver. Coco may not be the best Pixar film, but at the very least it is a return to form for the studio and something new when it seems that Pixar is just re-hashing the same story-lines for sequels.
Pixar is back to it’s best and it comes in the form of Coco, whilst Coco isn’t exactly the best Pixar film but when Pixar’s standards are so high, it is hard to think of Coco as the best film. But Coco is a great film, it is emotional, beautiful and a lovely story about family. The best Pixar films are the ones that really draw me to care about these characters, and deliver great emotional moments, which Coco succeeds in. I knew nothing about the film and hadn’t really watched any of the trailers and I only really knew it was about the Day of the Dead. What Coco delivers on the other hand is probably on the best animated films I have seen this year, whilst the story itself is very obvious, it is an emotional film and a beautifully animated film that was nine-figure budget to feature a [mostly] all-Latino cast. Family is what Coco is based on, with Miguel remembering his ancestors and correcting an injustice for his family and I have to say that this was one of the best things in the film. I loved the journey of Miguel with his grandfather and his . But, to be completely honest – it is a storyline that I have seen before, that being said, I did like the way Coco went about the discovery and the united family.
Coco is a great film, with a beautiful story, beautiful music and beatuiful animation. Whilst the story is great, the animation is what also really stands out, if it being the best animation I have seen in a film. I loved the story and the inclusion of the culture with some fantastic music that only makes the movie more emotional. The film fully deserves to win it’s Academy Awards for both “Best Original Song” and “Best Animated Film”. Everything is used to great effect, with the music really adding emotional depth and it allowing family to shine through. My main problem with the film, is that it isn’t very original – sure, the choice of holiday and the choice of culture allows something new and refreshing. But, it is a story line that gets resolved the same way we have seen multiple times – and I only say that being super-critical; because at the end of the day it is an animated film. And it is a film that is new and refreshing with great characters and great comedy; and I only say that the plot is simple because I wanted to be over-critical, but it is a film I loved.
AthemovieZ 
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