I'll be honest when I say that Disney films typically do not do anything for me. Every film's narrative is milked to such a large extent simply to get some kind of emotional response from the audience while disguising the fact that there's really nothing special about the story. Sure, I love the animation and the overlying themes are always cute but it's rare that one actually impresses me. Which is why I love Coco so much more than many others. This film is a surprisingly great story about the power of music and how it can resonate throughout generations of family. Even though it has the exact same beats as any other film of this genre, I loved the representation throughout the film and the powerful message that Lee Unkrich and Adrian Molina actually make fresh.
Miguel (Anthony Gonzalez) is a young boy living in Mexico with his often overprotective family. They act this way towards him because of a wrongdoing by his great-great-grandfather who left the family to become a musician. Despite being tight-knit and respectable, Miguel still decides to pursue his passion for playing the guitar and on Día de Los Muertos, he finds himself trapped in the land of the dead until he can get the courage and blessing to get home. This narrative, while cute in itself as the story of Miguel never giving up on his passions, is more of a focus on the importance of family and not harboring old grudges. I loved this aspect of the writing, as it gave audiences a much wider look at the family's journey through the many troubles and hardships of their past. Aided of course by an adorable and child-friendly way of telling the story, the way that the skeletons of Miguel's family were used to help his adventure was incredible to see. These amazing designs and creative forms of storytelling were, of course, due to the backgrounds and culture of the characters. What makes this film stand out so much amongst others is the representation. The entire lead cast and their characters are of Spanish and Mexican descent which paved the way for such an authentic experience that did not attempt to water down the culture of these people whatsoever.
While I did enjoy the characters and relatively fun story, this film is still plagued with mediocrity and a constant state of pandering. The story still follows every single beat that one would expect from a film of this genre and even though there is nothing particularly errant or nonsensical about the story, I get easily bored of the same tale over and over again. The themes may be presented in different ways with various characters and slightly amusing comedic relief, but it does not change the fact that this studio has a formula for raking in cash and doesn't ever want to abandon that. Say what you will about other Hollywood studios and conglomerates, but Disney has undoubtedly figured out the perfect combination of nostalgia and social relativity to sell their mediocre products by the millions. My biggest creative complaint about this movie, however, comes from the style of animation that has been overused to the point of distaste. There were only a few shots of this film in which I could actually feel that technological magic from the animation, but the majority of this movie is pressed out of a cookie cutter to form into whatever story may be needed. The opening sequence was intriguing but I really wish that Disney would start to take some more creative risks to make the visual storytelling aspect of their films more enjoyable. But this will always be overshadowed to audiences by the addition of the goofy companion character; in this case, Dante. He was a really cute dog, though.
Coco is a great piece of animated cinema that, while generic in most of its aspects, succeeds in providing something fresh in terms of representation and decent visuals. While I was able to easily follow along with the predictable plot, I did at least really enjoy the catchy music and fun characters that Unkrich and Molina have created.
My Rating: ★★★
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