COCO: Pixar's Embrace of Mexico

Pixar's love letter to Mexico, Coco, built an endearing story surrounding a concept rarely discussed with kids. Most parents would be happy to never talk about the idea of death or an afterlife until their children grew to a certain age. However, Miguel, Coco's main character, played by Anthony Gonzalez, dives headfirst into the underworld and develops relationships with his ancestors that in turns nurtures his relationships in the living world.

I came into this movie wanting to feel emotional and to cry, and both happened. Coco did a fantastic job at playing the heartstrings and allowing the audience to feel the bonds between ancestor and descendant. There was a heartbeat to this film that could be best described by the main theme of the song "Remember Me." Every time the song plays, you would feel how important the familial bonds were in the Rivera family.

The cinematography and visual effects, like in every Pixar film, were terrific. The contrast of the dark purples with the warm yellow lights in the underworld gave the afterlife a melancholy but ultimately optimistic feel to the whole environment. The best scene in the film is during the magic hour with the soft, warm color palette illuminating the most heartfelt rendition of "Remember Me." It brought a wave of emotion that only Pixar could deliver.

However, the film does have its faults. Despite an emotional film, there were still beats to the story typical to Pixar films. I could not help but feel like I have seen something similar already. I may enjoy the Pixar formula, but in the end, it is still a formula and I felt like nothing revolutionary occurred with Coco. Perhaps a film does not need to be revolutionary, but with the movie being a devotion to Mexican culture, I could not help but feel let down that Coco was just a traditional Pixar film.

I was sitting next to a military veteran watching the movie with his daughter and wife. Whenever the tears began to fall, I could hear an attempt to cover up sniffling in the seat next to me. The theater had an array of different kinds of people watching, and it was amazing to see a film so focused on one culture being a universal enthrallment to several different cultures.

#Coco #Pixar #movies #Disney #Mexico #ChristianGentolia