Sweet and entertaining

Rating: 7/10 (5 July 2018)

Young Miguel is an aspiring musician but his family forbids music of any sort in or around the house. This dates back to his great-great grandfather, who left his family to pursue a musical career. The hero of Miguel's town is the famous (and, several decades-ago, deceased) Ernesto de la Cruz, regarded, in his day, as one of the greatest musicians in the world. Defying his family, Miguel enters a Day of the Dead talent contest but, after his grandmother smashes his guitar, is forced to "borrow" Ernesto's guitar from the museum. This sets off a chain of events, resulting in Miguel entering the afterlife and needing to get Ernesto's blessing to re-enter the living world.
Sweet, entertaining movie from Disney and Pixar. Energetic with an emotional ending and some interesting takes on family, loss and memories.
Not brilliant - it is slanted more towards kids than adults. Once the afterlife segment starts it relies a lot on cheap sight gags involving skeletons' body parts. The middle section feels like your usual kids' adventure story, with predictable, action-based plot development. Things get better towards the end, due to a decent twist and an emotional, reasonably profound ending.