With Coco, Pixar steps away from their more typical formula to create a fulfilling adventure.
Miguel is raised in a family where music is forbidden after it ruined the life of one of his ancestors. However, Miguel’s dream is to become a musician. On the pursuit to follow his dreams, Miguel is transported to the Land of Dead.
First, Coco is a technical feat, setting the bar even higher than past Disney and Pixar films. Aside from the people and skeletons, every single detail looks remarkably realistic, down to the smallest element.
While Disney and Pixar seem to meet this standard with each of their new films, Coco takes it a step further with incredible world building.
Even from the trailers, it is obvious that Coco creates a vibrant and imaginative world. It incorporates elements and constructs from the Land of the Living interestingly and applies them in unique ways. This makes the world feel simultaneously familiar and magical, allowing the audience to experience Miguel’s journey alongside him.
While the visuals are almost enough to carry the film, Coco does falter a bit with an over-the-top premise. Instead of naturally introducing the story and allowing the audience to naturally enter the world, Coco instead spends far too much time at the beginning trying to set up the premise, and feels as if it is trying to convince the audience to believe the story.
Coco opens with the history of Miguel’s family. While the storytelling method of this sequence is creative, it only is effective in conveying a dense amount of information, as opposed to inviting the audience into the world.
It continues to further hammer in the same themes with a complete lack of grace. While Miguel’s family’s history is a premise far more down to Earth than those of many past Disney and Pixar films, through its execution it somehow feels less believable than even a girl who can control ice.
Coco finds its stride once Miguel enters the Land of the Dead, as it embraces the energy of the world. However, the lack of subtlety from the exposition is carried into the latter parts of the film.
Through the extreme emphasis on certain themes in the beginning, details later in the film are not too difficult to piece together to conclude the film’s biggest plot twist. While this will not affect a child’s movie-going experience, it can make parts of the film a little frustrating to watch for anyone else.
The film does successfully pull off other twists which allow the movie to explore some darker themes. However, instead of actually delving into these themes, Coco leans more into building excitement, which makes the ending repetitive.
Despite these plot flaws, Coco manages to create an entrancing energy that makes the movie come alive. While Coco is incredibly fun, it is also effectively emotional, perfectly balancing adventure with more sorrowful themes.
Furthermore, the characters and music are wonderfully energetic, driving the story forward, and making the audience care about Miguel and his family.
Grade: A-