The Book of Life

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Kim P Nov 22 This is so engaging, with a more complex storyline than one expects in an animated film. Great moral messaging. See more Kevin P Nov 11 A visually stunning and creative love letter to Day of the Dead and Mexican culture. The plot and pacing are a little messy at times, but the ambition and passion are both really strong and easily make up for this. The art style is very charming and distinct with its marionette figures and cartoonist proportions. I didn't care for the way the school children looked (or their characters in general). But thankfully they're only in the movie for a few minutes and the rest of the film looks great. The two gods La Muerte and Xibalba both look visually stunning and easily have the best character designs. I love their love-hate old married couple vibes and their respective lands of the remembered and the forgotten are both so vibrant and colorful. The voice cast is solid (even if Channing Tatum, Ice Cube, and Christina Applegate sound out of place for this Mexican story). Diego Luna is a standout and makes the main character very likeable. We get plenty of great celebrity cameos, including Cheech Marin, Gabriel Iglesias, Danny Trejo, and several TV voice actors. The film pays great homage to Mexican art and mythology. The pacing is slightly uneven, as it takes a lot longer to get to the land of the dead compared to Coco (though I'd argue this film handles family reconciliation and compromise for passion better with its resolution). The film has a good critique of animal cruelty in bull fighting. The mariachi music is fun and poppy. The jukebox musical songs were a bit hit or miss (admittedly, I like their version of "I Will Wait" by Mumford & Sons). But I really liked the song "I Love You Too Much" (the soft guitar music reminds me of Fleet Foxes). Not all the humor lands (especially during the museum prologue and early childhood scenes), but when it lands, it can be a very funny movie at times. The film doesn't shy away from death and its relation to life and how we are remembered from our life's legacy. We get a good twist about halfway through the story that really raises the stakes. In the Afterlife worlds, I love the character designs of all the skeletons, especially those black beads eyes with those flaring candle-like bright pupils. I enjoyed all of the scenes of the characters reuniting with their deceased family members. It's brief, but they all have a lot of personality and the montages explaining how they died were hysterical. The final battle was fun and ended on with a nice message about following your passions to live your legacy before death. While the movie's script does feel a bit unpolished and uneven at times, the film is still very entertaining for its strong visuals, charming characters, and thematic depth that helps it stand out from the often-compared-to Coco (heck, it came out 3 years BEFORE Coco!). Definitely underrated and worth a watch! See more David V Nov 11 Mexican theme singing Creep and “Can’t Help Falling In Love” See more Lluvia A Nov 2 Muy buena película. No se porque no la veo mas seguido. See more Condicion max N Nov 2 5 estrellas esta pelicula es única See more Albert W Oct 25 Very good movie but moves so fast... looks great on OLED TV too. See more Read all reviews

The Book of Life

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