Review of Coco (2017) by Guadalupe V — 14 May 2018

The movie "Coco" was a success with audiences of all ages, hence why it won an oscar. It was initially released on November 22, 2017, but very soon after became the highest grossing film of all time in Mexico. It also received immense popularity in the hispanic community since it was based on Mexican holiday, Day of Dead.

As can be seen, the movie was a complete success because of the way Mexican culture was expressed. Miguel wanted to be a musician more than anything in the world, but music had been prohibited from his household. After his family finds out that he loves music and his grandmother destroyed his guitar, he resorted to stealing from a memorial of De La Cruz. Miguel thought it was acceptable to do since he thought the famous singer was his great great grandfather. Unfortunately, he then soon realized he'd made a huge mistake when he realized he'd made it into the land of the dead, with no way out except with the blessing of his great great grandmother who's one condition was that he'd never play music again. After a whirlwind of emotions, Miguel finally made it back to the land of the living and brings happiness back to his great grandmother's life by reminding her of who her father was by singing one of his songs to her. The ending is very touching because it fast forwards one exact year and shows that Hector is rightfully being honored and Miguel is playing music for the Day of the Dead.

In the light of Miguel's view on music, he thought that defying his family's wishes just to pursue his dreams was okay, but boy was he wrong. When he discovered that De La Cruz was his great great grandfather, he figured it was okay to "borrow" his guitar to play at a talent show. Unfortunately, it sent him to the land of the dead. He gets to meet De La Cruz without Hector's help, a skeleton from the land of the forgotten that had promised to help, and thinks he'll finally have a blessing to return to the land of the living with no conditions. Hector interrupts before the petal touches Miguel which leads to a fight and ends with Miguel and Hector in what seemed like a pit of despair. Everything changes when they discover that Hector's actually Miguel's great great grandfather. Also, it turned out that De La Cruz had murdered Hector instead of letting him go back to be with his family, and took the fame all to himself. Disregarding all of the chaos in the film, Mexican culture was very much shown and represented. The setting was depicted in vibrant colors that very much fit the theme. From the neighborhood set up, the clothing, everything was portrayed perfectly. It was never about going with stereotypes but more so about staying loyal to the culture.

All things considered, "Coco" was an amazing film. Although it was intended for children, it also left adults weeping. It also spread awareness on Mexican traditions that aren't known worldwide, which is something that hadn't been done before in a "Disney Pixar" film. It was a touching movie because it let us fall in love with the characters then had something tragic happen to them. All in all it was an exceptional movie with a beautiful ending that warmed up all of the audience's hearts.

In the final analysis, Lee Unkrich, the director, played a major role in making the movie as big of a success as it was. Him being a member of the creative team at pixar since 1994, shows why it had such a classic Pixar film feel to it. Similar to that, meaning that the whole movie was impeccable since all the actors did an amazing job. The voices and emotions fit the characters perfectly.