COCO – Review

With 2017 nearing an end, the multiplex is ready to get you in the mood for the big holiday season. Those BAD MOMS and the DADDY’S HOME gang have gathered under the tree, and today we’ll find out how Charles Dickens became known in some circles as THE MAN THAT INVENTED CHRISTMAS. Now the talented team at Pixar are here to celebrate…Dia de Muertos. Hey that was almost three weeks ago, so you probably just boxed up all your Day of the Dead decorations. Just what are those jokers in Emeryville up to (well, Mexican movie goers did see it closer to the actual date)? Wasn’t that special day fully explored three years with THE BOOK OF LIFE? Not hardly, and really if Christmas can be the setting for a myriad of flicks (from ELF to DIE HARD), why can’t this day have more than one (hey James Bond danced with a skeleton senorita in the pre-title sequence of SPECTRE)? Hey, there’s cause enough for celebrating, since we’re being rewarded with a second Pixar flick this year (CARS 3 sped through last June), so settle in and savor the throughly delicious and delightful COCO.

After gliding through several colorful banners we meet one of the residents of the quaint Mexican village Santa Cecilia, twelve-year-old Miguel Riviera (voice of Anthony Gonzalez). It’s just hours before the Day of the Dead celebrations and Miguel plans on winning the big talent competition by wowing the town with his singing and guitar skills. But his family, who run a shoe-making business, is adamantly against any sort of melody. This is because Miguel’s great-grandmother Coco’s papa abandoned her and his wife to pursue fame. They even ripped his face off the family photo. But Miguel recognizes the guitar in the photo, the unique instrument of 30’s movie musical superstar, Ernesto de la Cruz (Benjamin Bratt). Unknown to his folks, Miguel has set up a makeshift shrine to Cruz in the attic, complete with a VCR which runs a tape of film highlights, and his own hand-made guitar. When it’s destroyed, Miguel decides to sneak into the opulent Cruz mausoleum and “borrow” his celebrated guitar. But when he touches it, he and his street-dog pooch pal Dante are sent to the afterlife dimension. He’s soon on the run from their police (no live folks allowed) and sees that is flesh is fading, reveling his bones. Unless he is given a blessing by a deceased relative, while holding an Aztec marigold, before dawn, Miguel will be trapped there. As Pepita, a spirit animal (looks like a winged eagle/lion with horns and a lizard tail), tries to track him down, Miguel enlists the aid of resident con-artist, ne’er-do-well Hector (Gael Garcia Bernal) to find Ernesto and learn the truth of his family history.

Once again Pixar, unlike most animation studios, opts not for celebrity “stunt” voice casting (with stars’ names above the title), but enlists the actors best suited for the roles. Case in point, screen newcomer Gonzalez who perfectly captures the excitement and anxious quality of a youngster wishing to spread his wings. We’ve seen other characters who want to break the mold and achieve goals that others believe are beyond them (Remy IN RATATOUILLE), but he infuses the “I want” role with a great youthful passion and panic (when he begins to dissolve ala Marty in the original BACK TO THE FUTURE). He’s teamed up with some great screen vets, particularly Bernal as the bouncy, put-upon Hector (a “street rat” much like ALADDIN), who rises from clown to hero while bringing a touch of real pathos to the story. Bratt is pure boasting bravado as Cruz, his smooth as silk exterior masking his darkness. Albanna Ulrich is a forceful queen leading those on the other side to find Miguel, while in the land of the living Renee Victor is an intimidating force of nature as the footwear flinging Abuelita.

While this voice cast is most impressive, above all the film is a dazzling visual feast, a fiesta of inspired character designs and colors that literally pop out from the screen (and this was from a standard viewing, as it is also in various 3D formats). In the earliest Pixar projects (shorts and first features) they strived to create humans as well as the toys, robots, and bugs. This time out Miguel’s family has unique textures and have real weight (some CG characters “hover” above their settings). Here’s two examples. Coco is an incredible achievement, looking every second of her ninety-some years with her wrinkles and skin spots. But her emotions aren’t buried under the details. There’s a sparkle that glimmers from her tired eyes as her great-grandson ‘s antics give her reason to keep living. And though’s he’s not a human, Dante with his constant hanging tongue and lop-sided run, like two golf balls encased in a tight skin covering, is another animation marvel. And their backdrops are gorgeous, with color schemes that set the dramatic tone of the story, The village is full of warm tones, making us feel the golden sun baking the streets and brick homes. In the after life, it’s all cool blues and purples, with twinkling white lights making the city into an indelible star field. Their skeletal denizens wobble about with unique carvings and color flourishes adorning each skull. There are several former celebs mixed in with the throngs, making delightful “Easter eggs” of pop cultural history. Oh, and the spirit animals, wacky combos (a frog bunny) in blazing flourescent colors, are another sweet bit of eye candy.

As lovely as it is to gaze upon, this film will engage the heart as much as the eyes. This may surpass the great INSIDE OUT in raw emotion, even invoking the silent opening flashback of UP. Plus it contains another “gut-puncher” in its big song, “Remember Me”, which should cause you to remember the tear-duct attack of “When Somebody Loved Me” from TOY STORY 2. In all departments, led by director Lee Unkrich and Adrian Molina, these artists have reached another level of movie-making. The warm, charming, colorful COCO is a new classic. See it with someone you’ll never forget.

5 Out of 5