A very mediocre, yet overrated film.

Rating: 6/10 (3 March 2018)

Coco is an animated film, centered on Mexican culture and Latino music, and mostly celebrated in Mexico, which is no big surprise. I liked the message (or maybe messages) it suggests to a child audience and also the whole idea of representing the world of the dead. However, as with most Disney films, everything gets excessively sentimental and "Disneyfied" here, not offering too much to the adult audience and making it simply a children's film. The film uses many (potentially) powerful assets to build up a great piece, but sadly it fails in most departments. For instance, we see the dead people made out of moving bones and adjustable skeletons, but very few "funny" gags are developed out of this rich context. Any reasons why? Because film makers were seemingly more fascinated by the overall looks and visual elements of the film, rather than being creative and genuine. The film is about music, but you can't really find a decent score throughout the whole film and the beats are not catchy enough to stay with you afterwards. Miguel enters the land of the dead right after he steals a guitar, but no further explanations are given about how and why did this journey happen to this particular boy? I count that as a plot hole. One implicit lesson embedded into this film, which is a big plus also, is about recognizing the unknown and uncredited artists that are actually the real backbones of the industry, and give credit to them, where credit is due. But surprisingly, the villain of the film, Ernesto de la cruz, who is a legendary singer-songwriter and also a big liar, is an exact replica of Queen's Freddie Mercury, with his shaded eyes, striking cheekbones and that iconic suit. Actually the reference couldn't get more blatant right after he threw Miguel off the cliff and said: "The Show Must Go On!" What a coincidence? And why do you have to reference a real world legend as a deceiver? All in all, despite all its good moments, Coco didn't meet my overall expectations.