'Coco' Review

Miguel (Anthony Gonzales) is a music fanatic who admires the great Ernesto De La Cruz (Benjamin Bratt) but he is forbidden to play due to his family’s ban on music. After running away to play music, Miguel steals a guitar and is sent to the Land of the Dead. Miguel meets his ancestors and new friends as he looks to escape before sunrise or he’ll be trapped there forever. 

Ever since Inside Out, Pixar seems to have gone through a mini-slump of movies that haven’t quite matched their usual standard. Coco, the latest addition to the Pixar filmography, sees a return to the quality we expect from the animation studio.

Coco takes place during the Mexican holiday Dia de Muertos, also known as The Day of the Dead, and is a perfect set up for a Pixar film. It allows the film to entertain with bright colours, wonderful animation, and fun characters, as well as having an emotional message that will leave a deeper impact on audiences.

The Mexican setting allows Pixar to explore a different culture that hasn’t had a great deal of focus on in recent times – The Book of Life being the main exception. This colourful festival fits perfect with Pixar’s animation as each frame is crafted full of detail, with fluorescent colours, unique characters and locations and the usual Pixar Easter Eggs. Not only is the film visually stunning, but it presents the opportunity to learn more about a celebration of life and family from another nation. Early on there are a few exposition-heavy scenes but it is necessary to make sure that everybody – especially the children – are fully aware regarding the meaning of this festival. Once the details have been straightened out, Coco’s true charm takes over as the adventure really begins.

The best kind of Pixar films are those that are equally as entertaining for both kids and adults – see Toy Story series, Inside Out, WALL-E etc. Coco joins this esteemed list as it is a fun adventure story packed with antics and great music to keep you thoroughly entertained. But most impressive is how the film manages to gain an incredible emotional response, especially in its final stages. The threats to the well-being of great characters may be enough to garner a response from you but the films respectful use of a sad disorder will have you fighting back the tears. It is a really beautiful moment and one of Pixar’s finest scenes that they have ever crafted – it’s up there with the first 10 minutes of Up and the incinerator scene from Toy Story 3.

Themes of family and creativity and how to balance the two are ever apparent as the film’s message about the two is very clear. Again, this is both equally as valuable for both children and adults as it is a universal message that everybody can relate to in some way. Pixar never fails to amaze on how they can create a story that has such a range that it can touch even the sternest of viewers.

Michael Giacchino’s score and the original songs from various artists contribute heavily enabling you to feel immersed in this world.  The music is created through a combination of mariachi, salsa, and flamenco with the results being high energy, catchy tunes which will stick in your head for days. The work from the cast members – particularly from Gonzales, Bratt and Gael Garcia Bernal – is to be praised in making the musical numbers of the film seem as authentic from the characters as possible.

To continue talking about the cast, its great to see that in a film like this that the majority of the cast were all of Latino descent, bar Pixar regular John Ratzenberger. Despite being an animated film, its great to see that this cast was made up in the correct way and it really helps add to creating this authentic imagined world.

Coco provides everything you could possibly want from a Pixar film. Fun, enjoyable characters within a world that is a joy to explore, as the film also looks to tug at your heartstrings. Add in the originality of the story which provides fantastic representation for those who celebrate this event and you find very little to not enjoy. Despite a slowish start, the film has plenty of conflict, twists, and entertainment to keep you engaged throughout its entire runtime.

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Coco hits theatres in the U.K. on the 19th January

'Finding Dory' Review

13 years ago, Pixar amazed audiences with its wonderful tale of a father searhing the ocean for his son. 'Finding Nemo' met great success both critically and at the box office which showed that Pixar had more to offer after Toy Story and Monsters Inc. The film touched so many to the point where fans were clamouring for a sequel to see more of these great characters. Now in 2016, Pixar are back with a new story in 'Finding Dory' but would they be able to recapture the magic that they created 13 years ago?

As we know, Dory (Ellen DeGeneres) is a wide eyed, blue tang fish who suffers from short term memory loss and forgets most things after around 10 seconds. However, she starts to remember her family that urges her to find them. With help from Marlin (Albert Brooks) and Nemo (Hayden Rolence), the trio will cross the ocean to the Marine Life Institute where Dory will need to get into to be reunited with her parents.

Finding Nemo was such a delight when it came out in 2003. The family film had so much heart in it which touched audiences all over the world with the family and friendship aspects. Unfortunately for Pixar, the same levels were not able to be replicated. I don't know if it is just something to do with the time that has past but there isn't that same feeling. Of course you want Dory to be reunited with her family but it just doesn't hit you as much as the original struggle that Marlin and Dory faced. It works to an extent but not to the standards set, which when you're a major company like Pixar is expected to be met.

As well as that, the adventure that our fish friends go on is nowhere near as good as in 'Nemo'. It's actually a small part as they get to the Marine Life Institute and they then have to break into there. It was so great seeing Marlin and Dory travelling and interacting with many parts of the ocean. They obviously had to change it up but there was so much more that they could have done and explored in the ocean. Instead we got a lot more action within the institute and the reliance of other characters which mainly takes our protagonists out of the water. There are enjoyable moments within the institute for sure but again, the expectations did make me feel disappointed with this part of the film.

One of the biggest problems for me has to do with the supporting characters. In 'Nemo' we had the three highly entertaining sharks who were hilarious in the original. We also had the other fish in the tank with Nemo who were all great with different personalities as well as Nigel the Pelican who was also fantastic. The turtles return briefly but aren't given enough to make a good, memorable mark on the movie. Now if you take that many characters and fail to replace them with equally as good new members, you are going to notice it. Hank the Octopus as well as Bailey the Beluga and Destiny, a Whale Shark all do a good job but none are as funny, likeable or as enjoyable as the previously mentioned characters from 'Nemo'. This does hurt the film quite a bit as you want more interesting characters but the film just doesn't quite deliver them.

I know this review may sound negative and that I didn't like it but that most certainly isn't the case. The humour of the first is still there as Ellen DeGeneres and Albert Brooks are great once again bouncing off one another. As it is Pixar, the film is enjoyable for all members of the family and does a decent job at catering for everyone. The jokes do land a lot of the time and you don't really get sick of anything including Dory still being forgetful which could've gotten highly irritant.

Pixar really show once again why they are at the top of the animation world with yet another stunning looking movie. 'The Good Dinosaur' last year faced some criticism for it's characters looks next to the realistic settings. 'Finding Dory' does a great job at balancing them both with new characters who look incredible. None more so than the Octopus Hank and you can tell that the animators had a great time with this character. With Hank's camouflage abilities, they were able to morph him into many different locations which all look fantastic. Top quality once again from Pixar.

Overall, 'Finding Dory' isn't up to the same standard of Pixar greats like Toy Story and the original Finding Nemo. Does that make it a bad film? Most definitely not. It is enjoyable with dazzling animation that should entertain the whole family.

Final Verdict = 

So have you seen 'Finding Dory'? If so what did you think of it? I hope that this review was useful for if you were planning on seeing the movie and if you do choose to see it, I hope you enjoy it! Once again, thank you for taking the time to read my review, it is much appreciated!

By Angus McGregor