A great watch but it could have been funnier!

Rating: 7/10 (22 May 2018)

Review:
I quite enjoyed this emotional animation movie, which really does have something for everyone but I must admit, I didn't really find it that funny. I know that it wasn't supposed to be that amusing but I missed the usual Pixar humour, which I have grown to love over the years. Don't get me wrong, the movie is certainly entertaining and the animation is truly remarkable but it's not the type of film that you can watch time and time again, like the earlier Pixar movies. With that aside, the attention to detail was great and the storyline was well written but I was still expecting more from this reputable company. Anyway, the movie is about a little boy, Miguel, who has a secret love of music, even though his family has banned it from there home. When he sees that there is going to be a local music competition, he escapes from home to show off his talents, but he is caught by another family member, who destroys his guitar. Failing to find another guitar to enter the competition, he decides to steal the guitar from the famous Ernesto de la Cruz mausoleum, who turns out to be his great-great-grandfather. Whilst stealing the guitar, Miguel becomes invisible to everyone in the village plaza, and he enters the mysterious world of the Land of the Dead, were he meets his skeletal dead relatives. Miguel soon realises that he is cursed for trying to steal the guitar, and he can only return to the Land of the Living, if he is blessed by one of his relatives before sunrise. One of his relatives, Imelda, offers to give him a blessing but on the condition that he abandons his musical pursuits, which Miguel refuses and attempts to seek Ernesto's blessings instead. Miguel then escapes from his family, to seek his great-great-grandfather but he's unable to get far because of his human looks. He then gets the help from Hector, who needs Miguels help to get his picture back to his daughter, so she doesn't forget him, so they go on there mysterious journey to find Ernesto, before Hector disappears, and Miguel gets banished to the Land of the Dead. It's quite an unusual but original storyline, which took 6 years to bring to the big screen, due to the importance of getting the authenticity of the project completely correct, and I'm sure that the animation took ages to perfect as well. I appreciate the work behind the scenes, that it takes to make a Pixar movie but I personally think that they have lost there touch since they have gone to Disney. That's not to say that this movie wasn't a great watch but there is too much competition out there at the moment. With movies like Ferdinand to compete with, Pixar need to up there game to claim back the top spot that they have owned for many years. Anyway, this movie is definitely worth a watch, and I'm sure that people will shed a tear, and jump for joy whilst watching it but I personally was hoping for more in the humour department. Enjoyable!
Round-Up:
This movie was directed by Lee Unkrich, who brought you Toy Story 3, and co-directed Toy Story 2, Monsters Inc. and Finding Nemo. He also produced The Good Dinosaur and Monsters University, so he has certainly earned his stripes with Pixar. After watching hours of bonus material, Unkrich and his team spent a lot of time in Mexico, with various families, to get the whole look and feel of this film spot on, and he done a terrific job in that department. The vibrant colours throughout the movie, along with the close family element, really did work well but I did find Ferdinand slightly more funny. It didn't actually hit the billion dollar mark but it was still a hit with filmgoers around the world, and I haven't heard a bad word said about it. With Incredibles 2 and Toy Story 4 in the pipeline, I'm sure that Pixar will be smashing the box office this year but I personally think that Toy Story should have been left alone.
Budget: $200million
Worldwide Gross: $805million
Genre: Animation, Adventure, Comedy
Cast: Anthony Gonzalez, Gael Garcia Bernal, Benjamin Bratt, Alanna Ubach, Renee Victor, Jaime Camil, Alfonso Arau, Edward James Olmos, Carla Medina, Cheech Marin, John Ratzenberger and Herbert Siguenza. 7/10