Coco

I'm not really sure why I didn't see Coco in theaters. 2017 was a year where I went to a lot of movies on my own, I just didn't (and still really don't) have a lot of people that want to go see movies with me. Now depending on the movie, that doesn't matter. I will go see any Star Wars movie or a superhero movie with or without anybody. I was so pumped for IT that it didn't matter that I went alone, I really had a lot of fun. But Coco was a little bit different because it's a Pixar movie. I absolutely love Pixar films and now that Pixar's new shtick is to make movies that will open up the emotional floodgates and relieve you of those tears of nostalgia and childhood dreams you've been keeping dammed up, I wasn't wild about going to this movie when I was far from home without going to it with somebody.

The funny part was, I did watch this movie alone when it came on Netflix, but I was much closer to family and I could go give my mom a hug after the film.

Coco follows the story of a young boy named Miguel (voiced by Anthony Gonzalez). His family hates music and forbids it in their household. But Miguel wants to play the guitar and be a musician.

 The story is set up very well and it is charming as hell. I don't know what it is about the animation, on top of the music, and the story itself but you instantly fall in love with these characters and their conflict is instantly felt.

Dia De Los Muertos is coming up quickly and Miguel wants to perform in the local talent show. So he goes to the grave of Ernesto De La Cruz, the great musician (later voiced by Benjamin Bratt, it'll make sense in a second), who Miguel figures out is his great great grandfather who abandoned the family and caused his family to hate music so much.

But when Miguel takes the guitar he is transported to the world of the dead. Suddenly he's surrounded by his deceased relatives and they take him over to the other side in a world populated by the dead. Something I'll note of is that the cast is almost exclusively voiced by Mexican actors. To the point where the only name I really recognized in the cast was Benjamin Bratt. This is fantastic because the cast is so well done and it's a Mexican culture driven story that it seems appropriate that the cast is driven by Mexican actors. I can't really say on any authority if the movie is culturally appropriate or correct on the traditions and cultures and I'm going to be honest, I don't have the time to research that. All I know is that it was a well written story and they do a lot of creative things with the idea of the dead coming to the world of the living during Dia De Los Muertos. I can't say if its correct in its ideas or if its offensive, all I can say is I enjoyed it but would love to hear the opinions of those that this means more to.

Miguel wants to get back to the land of the living but the only way to do that is get the blessing of a family member. He has a lot of family who are deceased but they will not give him their blessing without him swearing that he will never play music again. Miguel refuses because he believes that being a musician is his destiny and he must do it.

Miguel decides the only way to get back to the land of the living and continue his dream is to find his great great grandfather Ernesto De La Cruz, and get him to give him his blessing. The problem is that De La Cruz is the most popular musician in both the living and the land of the dead. Miguel finds the help of a charming con man by the name of Hector (voiced by Gael Garcia Bernal) to help him find his great great grandfather, get his blessing, and get back to the land of the living where he can play music.

And oh boy, you are in for a very emotional ride. This movie has a lot of comedy, it has a lot of action and adventure as the world of the dead is super creative like I said before, but at the end of it all, you're probably going to end up crying at the end of this movie. I cry in a lot more movies that I probably think I do, but usually its like a single tear. This movie had me weeping because of how much I cared for these characters and how it just hits you in the heart strings.

And the main reason this movie is so powerful, and the reason I'm really glad I waited until I was closer to family or to people I love was because this movie was ultimately about family

This movie has a really honest look at the ups and downs of family, who can be your family, the memory of family even after they've passed away, it hits a lot of notes and the way they utilize the characters in this movie and how they evolve is really well done.

I don't want to give too much away, but the way they handle who the antagonist is in this movie is really well done. If you have seen the movie you know what I'm talking about and it's just a solid family film at the end of the day. Oddly enough, this movie is probably more of a movie directed at kids than other Pixar movies (minus Cars) have been in the past. Inside Out brought us a lot of psychology that while kids will enjoy that movie, it seemed like a lot of the content it in it was more directed at adults. And while this has a lot of adult themes and me, as an adult (at least that's what people call me sometimes), was crying like a baby by the end of this movie, I do think it is directed more at kids than Inside Out and Toy Story 3 were. Now that's not a bad thing and I would actually put this up there with movies like Inside Out and Toy Story 3, that's how good this movie is because it can hit both notes for adults while still feel like a kids movie.

Overall, I will need to watch Coco a few more times to really get a sense of where it falls in the ranking of Pixar movies, but I'm worried that if I watch it again, I'm just going to end up crying my eyes out again and I need to be emotionally prepared to do that. We'll see.

But this movie is solid and if you have Netflix and haven't watched it yet, what are you waiting for?

But those are my thoughts on Coco? What did you think? How does it stack up with previous Pixar movies? Comment and Discuss below! You can also send me your thoughts on Twitter @MovieSymposium as well as send me your requests for films I should review in the future. If you follow me on Twitter, you can get updates on future movie news and reviews coming out of this blog.

Thanks, I'll see you next time.