Coco: Review

• This is a NON-Spoiler review for Pixar's Coco

• Plot Summary: "Despite his family's generations-old ban on music, young Miguel dreams of becoming an accomplished musician like his idol Ernesto de la Cruz. Desperate to prove his talent, Miguel finds himself in the stunning and colorful Land of the Dead. After meeting a charming trickster named Hector, the two new friends embark on an extraordinary journey to unlock the real story behind Miguel's family history."

• I am a HUGE Pixar fan. Their stories have been some of my absolute favorites. I don't even mind the Cars movies. I've been lucky enough to have a tour of the studios which was AMAZING. I get super excited whenever they have a new film out. Lately, I've been liking their original films more. I really love movies like Finding Nemo. But I love movies like Inside Out way more than movies like Finding Dory. Aside from Toy Story, their original films are better in my opinion. (don't get me wrong I'm very excited for Incredibles 2). So I was really looking forward to Coco. Especially because Lee Unkrich (Toy Story 3 director) was in the director's chair. I thought the trailer looked great. I was getting some Ratatouille vibes. And this movie does not disappoint.

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• I loved this movie. I loved going on this adventure with Miguel through this culture and the world. The animation and the designs are the best out there as usual. Pixar spends years working on the animation and the story and you can always tell. (except for ‪Cars 3‬). I really enjoyed the music in the movie including Michael Giacchino's score. I really like the characters. I connected with the main character Miguel like crazy. I'll get into that in a minute. Lee Unkrich should be given more and more projects. I'd probably crown him as my 3rd favorite Pixar director behind Pete Docter and Andrew Stanton. With ‪Toy Story‬ 3 and Coco, I want to see him do as much work as he can handle. I thought that he did a great job at crafting this world and the journey. I personally think ‪Toy Story‬ 3 is a better and more emotional movie, but this is still one of the better Pixar movies.

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• One thing that you should know, there is a 20 minute long Olaf's Frozen Adventure short before the movie. 20 MINUTES! And I'm sorry but that short sucked. I really liked Frozen, but that short is not funny. The best jokes they stole from the internet. Pixar is the master of animated shorts. I love the mystery of what short they've made this time. This isn't even Pixar's short..........and it sucks. And I'm sick to my stomach with Frozen! Frozen! Frozen! Frozen! So when you go see this movie, know that you can arrive 20 minutes late in the theater and you'll be fine.

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• My favorite thing about this movie I think is also it's biggest flaw. I'm a guy who has a dream of getting into film. I've loved and wanted to make movies since a very young age. So movies like Whiplash or La La Land that are about artists, I really connect with. And I loved watching Pixar tackle the story of an artist or a dreamer. I really really connected with Miguel. He has a dream of being a musician, but his family forbids music. A lot of stories, whenever there's a character with a dream and the family doesn't like it, they will usually just throw out a really easy reason like "You won't be able to support yourself." But not Pixar. The reason that his family hates music (which I won't spoil) is very very well crafted and creative reason. That was just something I really appreciated.

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• So there's a lot of conflict between him and his family about him fulfilling his dream of playing music like his hero. I connect with the desire for the dream but not the struggle with my family. My family has always been supportive of me doing what I want to do in film, which I've been very grateful for. I think that the story was posing a question concerning this conflict that I wanted Lee Unkrich's answer to. And I don't feel like I ever really got it. I won't say the question because it would be a spoiler but I was curious what the story was going to answer it with and I wish I would have gotten it. So I don't think that the movie was ever focusing heavily on this question or made it pivotal to the story, but I did have some expectations that weren't met.

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• I think that this is definitely the movie to see right now. I haven't seen Justice League yet but I haven't heard great things. This is a great story about having a dream and celebrating families and I thought it was great. If you're looking for a comedy, I don't think this will satisfy you at all. I don't think that's a flaw in the slightest. There are some pretty funny moments as usual but it's definitely not as funny as a lot of Pixar movies, which I don't think was the goal at all. But Coco was one of the better Pixar films with a lot of heart and great music and creative world building and great characters and a great journey that's worth taking this weekend. My grade for Coco is an A-