Coco (December 2017)

Official Australian release date: 26/12/17. Viewed: 27/12/17.

Directors: Lee Unkrich & Adrian Molina

Actors: Anthony Gonzalez, Benjamin Bratt, Gael Garcia Bernal, Renee Victor

Genre: Adventure/Comedy

Rating: PG

  

‘Coco’ is another Disney-Pixar animation instant-classic, with an excellent, touching story, good music, in testing characters and great visuals. It’s also something a bit different – set in Mexico and following Miguel (Gonzalez), a boy who is accidently trapped in the Land of the Dead as he tries to escape. Even though all the spirits are depicted as skeletons, it’s not as sinister as it sounds – still very suitable for kids.

Miguel gets transported to the Land of the Dead on “Dia de Muertos” (“Day of the Dead”, when Mexicans honour their ancestors), after trying to learn more about his great-great grandfather (Coco’s dad), who was a famous musician – De La Cruz (Bratt – has a hilarious death). With him for the journey is Dante the dog, who provides a lot of the laughs. It’s great to see Miguel meeting and interacting with his great uncles and great aunties, who he’s only heard about. Plenty of colour, movement and imagination went into the Land of the Dead and it looks great – basically a tiered seaside village. Miguel is helped on his journey to find De La Cruz by Hector (Bernal), who’s trying to visit the Land of the Living, as he’s afraid he’s being forgotten and will soon cease to exist.

If you don’t have tears in your eyes at some point, then you’re probably dead and already in the Land of the Dead! The final 30min is exceptional, with a great twist and plenty of heartwarming moments. This is almost as good as ‘Up’ – huge praise from me! There’s some laughs, some songs, lots of fun, but most importantly the film really highlights the importance of family and honouring those who have come before you – extremely touching at times.

Overall: An extremely enjoyable film.

Gav's Rating: 4 stars.