My Movie Review on The Book of Life · 4:43pm Jan 23rd, 2020
Bueno dias, my good amigos.
This is your friendly film, TV show, and episode reporter here with another review.
And today, as requested by HolyCross9, I'll be giving my take of "The Book of Life".
Here's the rundown of this tale:
In the Mexican town of San Angel, Manolo, Maria, and Joaquin have been friends ever since they were children. Although their lives have taken different paths over the years, one thing remains the same: Manolo and Joaquin are both in love with Maria and want to marry her.
Little do the friends know, though, that a couple of married deities, La Muerte and Xibalba, made a wager over which boy would get the girl.
What sort of hijinks and adventures await these characters?
Well, let's find out.
I'd like to be honest about something:
Before I saw this movie, I had very low expectations for it. Even after seeing the trailer for it, I was only slightly interested in seeing it.
When I finally did, though, I was deeply surprised. I enjoyed it much more than I expected.
I mean, the only problem I found in this feature was that the designs of some of the characters were rather bizarre. Especially that of the four cavalry men, who also weren't very tolerable because of how cowardly they were and their lack of character development.
Other than that, the film turned out to be an absolute delight!
The direction by Jorge R. Gutierrez, and the screenplay by him and Doug Landale, were extraordinarily splendid.
When it came to making an animated feature that was unique and different, Gutierrez definitely didn't mess around. The concept appeared to be one that was original, and many of its elements seemed to be ones that weren't tried out before in an animated film for whole families. There was even nicely done humor and wit, powerful heart and emotion, and great exploration of Mexican culture. Its themes about love, friendship, family, and being a hero were marvelous too. I know that it also shared similar elements with Pixar's "Coco", which came three years after this movie, but it still stood out as something of its own, really.
The animation of this movie was something that particularly caught me by surprise, I'll tell you that.
A lot of times, the description that came to my mind the most regarding the overall visualization was that it was like seeing a world made of carved wood. But yet, it was all done in a way that wasn't too jarring. Gutierrez and the animators were clearly very passionate about bringing this project to life, which helped everything be groundbreaking in its own way.
The music composed by Gustavo Santaolalla also proved to be astounding.
Like Michael Giacchino did for Pixar's "Coco", I admired how Santaolalla captured a spirit that proudly honored the Mexican culture, and the songs written by him and Paul Williams were excellently worked. My favorite of the musical elements was the use of guitar music.
Finally, the voice acting, casting, characters, and character development in articulation were incredible!
Accompanied by surprisingly witty and creative dialogue, the performers sounded like they were having a lot of fun getting into their characters. It was especially like they were meant for their parts, incorporating great personality and helping them to be fully realized and alive. The characters themselves, with the exception of those four cowardly cavalry men, had awesome development too.
Out of all of the performers and characters, my favorites were that of Diego Luna, Zoe Saldana, Channing Tatum, Ron Perlman, Kate de Castillo, and Ice Cube, and their characters of Manolo Sanchez, Maria Posada, Joaquin Mondragon Jr., Xibalba, La Muerte, and Candle Maker.
In conclusion, "The Book of Life" may not give "Coco" a run for its money, but as a film of its own...it's extravagantly creative and powerful. I myself never expected to become a fan of this movie, but now...I am a fan.
So, I rate "The Book of Life" 4½ out of 5 stars.
To Jorge R. Gutierrez: I deeply hope that the sequels you're planning will be coming soon, because after seeing this film, you've got my interest hook, line, and sinker.
That was I request and it was a good movie
5190715
Oh.
I thought you'd never get to this masterpiece! Personally I'd give it a 5 out of 5 since I've seen this before Coco even came out and I have no qualms about the problems you pointed out.
5190717
😑
Oh, wow, I forgot all about this until now. Yeah, it was pretty good. I'll have to watch it again sometime.
This movie was a delight, with one of my favorite lines in it being a conversation between Manolo and Jaoquin when their talking about being in their fathers shadows.
I also just like how Jaoquin reacts to his friends death. Sure they fought prior to that and was angry when he thought Maria was dead, but when Maria's dad was talking about marriage his first instinct was to say 'let's talk about this later'. Heck, even at the wedding you can see he doesn't like it. Sure he WANTED Maria to be his wide, but he wanted her to do it because she loved him and not because she was pressured into doing it.