The Book of Life

PG

Released Oct 17, 2014

1 hr. 35 min.

Kids & Family

Comedy

Adventure

Fantasy

Animation

List

83%

127 Reviews

Tomatometer

77%

25,000+ Ratings

Audience Score

In the Mexican town of San Angel, Manolo (Diego Luna), Maria (Zoë Saldana) and Joaquin (Channing Tatum) have been friends ever since childhood. Although their lives have taken different paths -- Maria was sent to Europe, Joaquin joined the military, and Manolo studied to become a bullfighter -- one thing remains the same: Manolo and Joaquin both want to marry Maria. Little does the trio know that battling husband-and-wife deities have made a high-stakes wager on the love triangle's outcome.

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Premiered Nov 08

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Critics Consensus

The Book of Life's gorgeous animation is a treat, but it's a pity that its story lacks the same level of craft and detail that its thrilling visuals provide.

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clover

I absolutely love the cute ( and moving, and tense) love story, and the challenges Manolo has to go through to get to the love of his life, and getting to write his own story. And something I love as well is the character development for all the main cast, like Joaquin, and even some other secondary characters. The changes between stages is not as fast as another movies, and you really get the time to get fond of the characters. Also, the style is great due to the wooden-like character that make you remember that they're puppets, and this is a story for kids, to teach them the true meaning of love. Personally I watch it in latin spanish (my native language), so the jokes really are funny to me cause I've heard them in real life. Humor is a subjective thing either way, not everybody finds the same thing funny. And as a last thing I wanted to say, this movie really gets into the topic of death, and how important it is for the Mexican culture. I've come a lot of times to think about how important is to remember those who died, and to how sad I would feel to loose someone close to me, how I would like to be with them once again, and I can kind of relate to some characters in that way. I've been watching this movie since I was a little kid and i never grow tired of it. It's my comfort movie. The meaning of this film for me, is to always keep true to yourself and never give up what you love the most, and fight for it, no matter what it takes. And obviously that true love never dies. Nunca retrocedan, ni se rindan.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

03/01/24

Full Review

Presley D

A very good movie with an interesting plot and story line I have seen it too many times to count and it'll still never get old better than Coco in my opinion.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/16/24

Full Review

Robson C

La Muerte governa o reino dos Lembrados. Xibalba governa o reino dos Esquecidos. Os dois decidem fazer uma aposta: se Maria casar com Joaquim, Xibalba e La Muerte trocam de reinos. Porém, se Maria se casar com Manolo, Xibalba não mais interferirá no mundo dos Vivos. Baseado nos costumes mexicanos de se comemorar o Dia dos Mortos e no mito de Orfeu, temos aqui uma divertida e colorida animação produzida por Guillermo Del Toro. Muitos podem comparar esta animação com Coco da Pixar, porém esta veio muito antes e pode ser que a animação da Pixar tenha adaptado muitas ideias deste filme, como a questão do mundo dos Mortos ser um lugar colorido e vibrante, dos espíritos dos mortos sumirem quando eles são esquecidos, entre outras coisas. Porém Book of Life é muito mais psicodélica na sua estruturação. Interessante que os personagens da história contada pela guia sejam representados como marionetes e, em alguns momentos, essa caracterização é utilizada, mesmo no mundo dos Vivos, como os soldados da companhia de Joaquim, que perdem os seus braços, ou o vilão Chakal, cujos os braços se esticam. Uma animação que deve agradar adultos e crianças, mas acho que os adultos entenderão melhor o filme.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

12/26/23

Full Review

Audience Member

This movie was so dang good! How come I haven’t seen this before???

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

11/04/23

Full Review

Marcelo V

Es la película mejor echa en cuanto a su trama esos minutos que vemos a nuestros protagonistas son muy vivos y se nos queda un poco en cada uno de nuestros corazones, María no es la típica damisela en apuros se ve que ella tiene carácter para poder hacer lo que quiera, Manolo cómo protagonista no es el típico protagonista genérico y plano por primera vez el protagonista puede empatizar con nosotros en los minutos que lo vemos

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

11/02/23

Full Review

Ashley H

The plot was quite unexpected for me. Charming and cute characters, but not a one I would watch again

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

10/30/23

Full Review

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Jorge R. Gutierrez

Director

Diego Luna

Manolo

Zoe Saldana

Maria

Channing Tatum

Joaquin

Ice Cube

The Candle Maker

Ron Perlman

Xibalba

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Jake Wilson

Sydney Morning Herald

Though the plot gets a bit congested, the film remains far less predictable than most of its kind.

Rated: 3/5

Apr 2, 2015

Full Review

Mark Kermode

Observer (UK)

It's refreshingly sparky fare, boasting eye-catching design (wooden toys inspire CG magic), musical weirdness (Radiohead will never sound the same again) and proper laugh-out-loud jokes for young and old alike.

Rated: 4/5

Oct 26, 2014

Full Review

Mar Diestro-Dópido

Sight & Sound

Drawing on Mexican folklore and other Latin American traditions, Jorge R. Gutirrez's version of death in his beautiful, witty 3D-animated debut The Book of Life is bursting with vibrant colours and magic -- a constantly expanding, neverending party.

Oct 24, 2014

Full Review

Rolando Gallego

EscribiendoCine

The Book of Life fulfills its premise and contributes its specific uniqueness to the animated universe... [Full review in Spanish]

Rated: 7/10

Dec 29, 2023

Full Review

Cory Woodroof

Williamson Home Page

The Book of Life, like the best animated films, has its own tone, which helps it stand apart as its own thing. The music, a mix of original songs and fun takes on pop hits, is also worthy of praise.

Feb 11, 2022

Full Review

James Croot

Stuff.co.nz

An unexpected delight for all ages.

Rated: 4/5

Feb 8, 2021

Full Review

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Synopsis

In the Mexican town of San Angel, Manolo (Diego Luna), Maria (Zoë Saldana) and Joaquin (Channing Tatum) have been friends ever since childhood. Although their lives have taken different paths -- Maria was sent to Europe, Joaquin joined the military, and Manolo studied to become a bullfighter -- one thing remains the same: Manolo and Joaquin both want to marry Maria. Little does the trio know that battling husband-and-wife deities have made a high-stakes wager on the love triangle's outcome.

Director: Jorge R. Gutierrez
Executive Producer: Cary Granat, Chuck Peil, Aron Warner
Screenwriter: Jorge R. Gutierrez, Doug Langdale
Distributor: 20th Century Fox
Production Co: Reel FX Creative Studios, Chatrone, 20th Century Fox Animation
Rating: PG (Mild Action|Brief Scary Images|Rude Humor|Some Thematic Elements)
Genre: Kids & Family, Comedy, Adventure, Fantasy, Animation
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Oct 17, 2014, Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Jan 9, 2016
Box Office (Gross USA): $50.1M
Sound Mix: Dolby Atmos, Dolby Digital

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