Review of The Book of Life (2014) by Phil P — 13 Nov 2014

"All you can eat Churros!".

"Oh boy a Guillermo Del Toro' animated film!" I thought when I first heard about this movie. Great news, well until I saw it was just produced by him, but still his backing is good enough to get me 'interested' at least. There was also the subject, Day Of The Dead and it's celebratory angle towards death always interested me. It's a uniquely Mexican thing (from what I know) and with my little knowledge I wouldn't mind learning more about it. I got the later but not a great deal else.

As I said 'The Book Of Life' is about the Mexican tradition of The Day Of The dead, a day which the living celebrate and remember the dead from their families. This takes that and centres it around an unfortunate love triangle. 'Manolo' and 'Joaquin' both love 'Maria'. The former from a family of bull fighters and passionate guitarist and the later the son of the town hero. All the while in the background 'La Muerte' (Ruler of the land of the Remembered) and 'Xibalba' (Ruler of the land of the forgotten) have a bet who will marry Maria - 'La Muerte' goes with 'Manolo' and 'XIabalba' 'Joaquin'.

Everything involving the The Day Of The Dead is great and it's a beautifully colourful film. Where it falls down is the story, its romantic story is weak at best. teh characters aren't all that engaging - other than to look at. The story has some Sleeping Beauty-esque beats to it and it's filled with songs - most of which seem a little off or are too loud (possibly just me). Naturally we're suppose to root for 'Manolo' over 'Joaquin' though I didn't really care either way. There's little reason to pick either, it seems early on to take the idea that 'Joaquin' will grow up selfish and while that slightly true there's nothing overly negative about him.

Things do take a massive leap forward during the middle where 'Manolo' makes his way through the 'Land Of The Remembered', strikingly colourful and swiftly animated. But it's too brief for my liking. It occasionally made me laugh with some clever lines and even the token Mexican stereotypes actually work without forcing an eye roll from me. One of the things that's entirely personal (I concede) is the way the story is presented Iv'e never been a fan of the story framed within a story - it's all told through 'Beth' telling a bunch of kids (which couldn't be more clichéd if they tried) in a museum. The ending is predictable as expected but predictability doesn't makes something everything set-up prior does - a love story this entrenched in the story is fairly unique in animation but it bares all the hallmarks of a typical rom-com.

Visually its fantastic and the surrounding subject matter of 'The Day Of The Dead' breathes enough life into it to make it enjoyable. What's holding it back is the story, s by the numbers love triangle with (as usual) the sensitive guy winning out and the strong one losing (or should I say conceding). Still, it was worth a watch and there is certainly enough for me to recommend it, with all the bright lights and happy vibe the film gives off kids will eat this up.