So Pixar still knows how to pull off masterpieces

Rating: 9/10 (9 December 2017)

The end of the 90s and the 2000s revealed Pixar as the king of CGI animation, mixing incredible visual achievements and fantastic originality into overall very well crafted entertainments. They took their time to create unforgettable pieces of film, chaining Finding Nemo, The Incredibles, Ratatouille, Wall-E, then Up, refusing the easiness of the commercial formula and, notably, sequels (at the exception of the Toy Story franchise, which holds a special place in their and their fans' heart).
More recently, their track record has been tarnished by movies that were less impressive. Fans needed to start using the "minor" to designate Brave or Monsters University, which were already a display of weakness from the studio. Then some dared using "boring" when talking about Cars 2 and Cars 3, and The Good Dinosaur. And we started questioning the magic. Is it gone? Where are the masterpieces? Then they made Coco.
The film is such a success as for the spectators as for the critics, and it'll almost surely get the Oscar for best animated movie. Rightfully so. Coco is Pixar getting all ambitious again. Just like Wall-E dealt with the future of humanity through the lens of a robot, Coco deals with life, family, and death through to lens of a boy. It's so incredible thoughtful, you gotta have a stone instead of a heart if it doesn't affect you. In a stream of rich, detailed and colorful visual elements, the story unfolds as an elegant and well-crafted tale sprinkled by funny jokes and goofs (yes, there is a dog!) that goes in one direction: speaking to everyone, universally.
I went to the theater with 2 of my friends, guys too. To my left were two ladies who spoke Spanish and who were, judging from their reactions and laughs, picking on some details in the film from the Mexican culture (the story takes place in Mexico), and it was interesting and refreshing seeing an animated film going "all in" with a non-American culture like that (they already did it with Ratatouille in Paris to be fair, but the culture contrast is less strong). In the theater when you know the ending of the story is close and it's just the moment when it drops the heavy stuff, it's an exercise not to sniff or touch your eyes too much so as not to lose face with your buddies next to you, but then you hear them sniff discretely and you realize everyone in the audience is playing the same game.
One of the best movie of the year and one of the best Pixar.