Coco Es Excelente

Rating: 10/10 (25 November 2017)

I have always loved Pixar films (well, most of them) and was looking forward to this as an original return to form for the animation studio. It followed through on that promise and then some. Stunningly animated, culturally relevant and emotionally powerful, this animated stunner is Pixar's best film since "Toy Story 3." Lee Unkrich's direction is excellent, making the film a gorgeous and stunning love letter to not only Mexico but its people and culture. The plot is thoroughly engaging throughout, and never becomes predictable despite the presence of several Pixar tropes. While some of the small children in the audience I was with got a little antsy, everyone still had a great time and absorbed the unique details of the story.
Pixar's art direction is second to none in the film. The Land of the Dead is laid out as a visual wonderland, with more unique puns and Easter eggs to count on a first viewing. The all-Hispanic voice cast are uniformly great, and the film manages to be both entertaining and fun while still incredibly powerful at the same time: a nearly impossible trick to pull off in an animated film. The film's action and travel scenes are thrilling, but the movie never loses grip of its strong and hopeful message about the value of family and familial love. At the end of the day, both children and adults will love this film, which is one of the year's best. It's great to see that Pixar can still continue touch generations with animated films of exceptional quality like the ones that helped them become a household name. 10/10
Note: The short film that precedes the feature, "Olaf's Frozen Adventure," is a bit of a waste. It probably doesn't help that I'm not much of a Frozen fan, but it's quite long (over 20 minutes) and the songs are rather annoying.