Something different, and fresh from Pixar and Disney!

Rating: 8/10 (29 November 2017)

'COCO': Four Stars (Out of Five)
Disney and Pixar's new computer-animated film about a 12-year-old music fan, despite his family's long ban on it, who accidentally enters the land of the dead, and goes on an incredible journey there. The movie was directed by Lee Unkrich (who previously helmed 'TOY STORY 3', and co-directed multiple other Pixar films), and it was co-directed by Adrian Molina. The screenplay was written by Unkrich, Molina, Jason Katz and Matthew Aldrich. It's received nearly unanimous rave reviews from critics, and it's also another big hit at the Box Office for Disney and Pixar. I found it to be visually stunning, and mostly entertaining as well.
Miguel Riviera (Anthony Gonzalez) is a 12-year-old boy, who lives with his very conservative family in the small Mexican village of Santa Cecilia (a fictional village). Miguel dreams of becoming a musician, like his deceased idol Ernesto de la Cruz (Benjamin Bratt), but music has long been forbidden in his family, due to the fact that his great-great-grandfather left their family to become a musician. When his grandmother (Renee Victor) destroys his guitar, to prevent Miguel from entering a local music contest, he breaks into a mausoleum to steal the guitar of his late idol. This causes Miguel to become a partial ghost, and enter the world of the dead. He then must team up with another ghost (Gael Garcia Bernal), that is forbidden from entering the world of the living, in order to return home. In the process of this adventure, Miguel learns a great family history lesson.
The movie is definitely beautiful to look at, and the land of the dead is a great setting for a Pixar animated film (in my opinion). At least it's something different, and fresh, and the story actually has some surprise twists towards the end. The film is also mostly amusing, and it has some touching family drama, and a positive message about following your artistic dreams as well. I think as far as most animated movies go, this is definitely an above average kids film. It's worth seeing for it's visuals at the very least.