Coco is the new animated movie from Pixar and Walt Disney Studios. It is directed Lee Unkrich and stars Anthony Gonzalez, Gael Garcia Bernal, Benjamin Bratt, Alanna Ubach, and Renee Victor. It is about a 12 year old boy named Miguel as he travels to the land of the dead where he meets his ancestors. This movie currently stands at an amazing 96% on Rotten Tomatoes so it’s getting a lot of hype. Let’s review the latest from the Mouse House.

Back in early January, I made a list of my most anticipated movies of the year and Coco was on that list. Pixar has hit home run after home run and I was expecting the same from this movie. So now that I’ve seen the movie, does Coco live up to the hype? Well I’ll just say this, Coco is without a doubt the BEST MOVIE OF THE YEAR! No, not the best animated movie; the BEST MOVIE OF THE YEAR. Sorry but I really had to emphasize how good this movie is.

There are so many things to talk about but I’ll start with something that you don’t see that often anymore; an original idea. This movie isn’t based off anything other than the Day of the Dead holiday in Mexico and it’s just so fresh as a movie fan to see an original movie. How they show how people of Mexico celebrate the Day of the Dead and the land of the dead itself is so fascinating. Especially when it is comes from someone with an outside perspective of Mexico. The land of the dead itself is absolutely stunning and it has to be some of Pixar’s best animation ever.

The music is this movie is beautiful as well and I thought it flowed perfectly with the movie. But what I really loved the most about this movie is just how smart this story is. Whenever you watch a “kid’s movie”, the movie and plot tends to be dumbed down for kids and adults won’t like it. That is not the case with Coco. This movie is so smart and they talk about some deep stuff. The journey Miguel goes on is something that can be scary for kids but you know what; life is scary. Bad things happen in this movie and it had me on the verge of tears. If it was in the hand of a lesser studio, it wouldn’t work. But the reason why Disney is the king of entertainment is because they get the best writers and they have the best storytellers.

In conclusion, Coco is a spectacular movie and my favorite film of the year. I loved all of the characters of the movie and it is one of Pixar’s best movies ever. The only real negative I have is that the last 15 minutes of the movie are a bit all over the place, but that isn’t enough to not make me love this film. Do yourself a favor; bring some tissues and go see Coco!

Rating: A+/98%

Written By: Steven Santoro (SVS_1993)