Amazing film!

Rating: 9/10 (24 June 2018)

This is one emotionally-charged mystery roller coaster that showcases, once again, the story-telling prowess that the talents behind Pixar has always been famous for. Not only it's a lavish and beautiful drama fantasy, it is also, in part, a pretty sneaky mystery film as well, that doesn't seem like one at first glance. The film scattered an obscure string of Chekov's guns throughout in a way that one would treat casually yet not completely miss, only to have all these details unexpectedly tie into the final revelation. And with the superb work gone into building all these characters and the world itself, the emotional impact of the revelation becomes tenfold. Kudos to the directors, story supervisors and writers of this all-round intelligent film -- or I might just overthinking it. The 3D animation is pretty seamless, almost life-like, but most of all, the art direction is a grand visual feast, most notably its portrayal of the Land of the Dead, which is not just pure world-building, but also an integral part of the story's emotional core (yes, that includes the immigration counters). On top of that, there is music by Michael Giacchino, the man behind the music of 'The Incredibles', 'Ratatouille' and 'Up', and the Lopez duo, who wrote the songs of 'Frozen'. Not only is 'Remember Me' a pretty great song, the way it is portrayed and used throughout the movie is pretty smart. When it first played, there was fanfare and celebration and glitter all over, almost like a pop song consumed by the masses -- almost quite narcissistic -- which later became one of the few inspirations for our protagonist, only to be later stripped down to its core, revealing the meaning of the song, and it's deep-rooted connection to the themes of the movie. A song that is in of of itself a character of the story. One hell of a movie, ey?