Good enjoyable film - but something's missing from it

Rating: Null/10 (13 February 2018)

Coco is a film with an interesting premise and great animation, if you look at the trailer to try to decide whether to watch the film. Dia de los Muertos and a Land of the Dead fantasy storyline is really intriguing. And the Mexican holiday is something you almost never come across in mainstream films - a plus for elitists who like to think they're exploring and opening themselves to different non-Anglo cultures.
Coco is a really good, enjoyable film. There's not much wrong with it, if anything. The music is beautiful, especially when Mama Imelda was singing her gorgeous song on stage with Ernesto De La Cruz, though he was being mean and swinging her around roughly.
I really liked the skinny, unfortunate Hector character - and not surprisingly, it was voiced by Gael Garcia Bernal, himself a very charismatic actor. I liked the part where Hector was disappearing because no one was remembering him, and he turned his shot glass upside down. When he dressed like Frida Kahlo a couple of times, that was amusing too.
The epic animation of the Land of the Dead, such as that bridge with the the golden leaf-like piles, was really stunning. The film was glowing in a very positive, technicolor, gorgeous way. The Land of the Dead wasn't some scary or somber place - it seemed fascinating, happy, and spectacular.
What I liked best about Coco were the Hector parts, the magical bridge, the stunning Land of the Dead "cityscape," and the animation overall.
Coco is far better than some of the other major animated films of the past couple of years, like Moana, Zootopia, or Kubo.
But I guess something was missing from Coco. It seems like an enjoyable way to spend two hours, and it would probably be the best of the films shown at the theater at any given time. Coco seems like it's supposed to be full of heart and soul - it was about a soulful kid wanting to pursue his love of music, and it was about familial love, too. But what is that something that's missing? Maybe its just me. Maybe I'm more fond of films that are more classic fairy tale-like, such as Frozen or Disney's Beauty & the Beast (1991). Maybe those just speak to me on a deeper level because I loved fairy tales so much my whole life. Coco is not a film I will fondly remember years to come - but maybe that's just me.
Anyway, this film is definitely worth watching. It seems like it would nominated for the Academy Awards Best Animated Feature - if they don't forget about it by the end of the year. :) And maybe it will be nominated for cinematography and music, too. If you're trying to decide whether to watch, it, just go for it. Most likely, you'll enjoy it a great deal.