Coco - This Week At The Movies

Pixar’s latest centres on a young Mexican boy called Miguel (newcomer Anthony Gonzalez), who despite his family's generations-old ban on music, dreams of becoming a famous guitarist like his idol, the masterful mariachi Ernesto de la Cruz (Benjamin Bratt). Desperate to prove his talent, Miguel somehow ends up in Land of the Dead, on the hunt for his long-deceased hero. Teaming up with a charming trickster called Héctor (Gael García Bernal), the two new friends explore this incredible, skeleton-filled world to solve a mystery before time runs out.

Pros:

• As you’ll have seen from the trailers and posters, Pixar have created yet another gorgeous film, up there with such stunning stablemates as Inside Out and Wall-E. The day of the dead visuals are so rich and bright, it’s a pleasure just to look at, let alone actually pay attention to. Adding to the anticipation surrounding this film is that we are late to the party here in the UK, with Coco scoring big at the box office all over the world in 2017 – including China, where it’s made more money than all the other previous Pixar movies combined – and managing to become the second-biggest film in the history of Mexican cinemas, behind only 2012’s The Avengers. It’s pretty popular, basically.
• While many will point out the similarities between this and 2014’s Book Of Life, Coco is a weightier, more impressive affair, delivering a high-concept and emotionally difficult story with ease, getting you invested in characters without the help of, say, big-name voice artists or a bitesize conceit. There is so much love and care in this film, it truly beams off the screen. I should tell you now: you will most likely cry, watching this film. In a good way.
• The songs are appallingly catchy. ‘Remember Me’ will be in your head for weeks, while ‘A Poco Loco’ will be in your head for months. You have been warned.

Cons:

• If you do know (and maybe even love) The Book Of Life, the similarities are going to get on your nerves. This is another highly stylised animated trip to the land of the dead, and if you feel you saw enough multi-coloured skull-themed designs back in 2014, you’d better give Coco a swerve or you’ll be feeling a poco loco yourself.
• Of course you shouldn’t go into a film aimed at children with your Sherlock-style magnifying glass out, but there are some slightly curious plot moments that may leave you scratching your head. Or, if you’re a regular human being who can stop themselves from picking holes in kids’ movies, you’ll just enjoy it all without any issue and carry on with your life.
• It’s a real blubberer – well, it was for me anyway – and hey, maybe you’re not in the mood for that.

Three word review: Fantastic, affecting gorgeousness

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