The Book of Life

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This may be one of the best-timed reviews I've had yet, conveniently finding itself on the day between Halloween and the Day of the Dead (which is what this particular film is more about). Most out there would probably tend to follow their nose when it comes to Pixar and prefer the likes of 'Coco' (and I'm no exception, really), but this film shouldn't be overlooked by any means either. It's just about as solid.

The film opens up with a small group of detention students arriving at a museum, where they are told by their tour guide (Christina Applegate) about a Mexican town called San Angel from The Book of Life.

The story follows a wager placed between La Muerte (Kate del Castillo), ruler of the Land of the Remembered, and Xibalba (Ron Perlman), ruler of the Land of the Forgotten. The bet is between two brothers; the sweet and sensitive Manolo (Diego Luna) and the tough but handsome Joaquin (Channing Tatum), for the love of a girl named Maria (Zoe Saldana). If Maria married Manolo, Xibalba has to stop interfering with the land of the living. However, if she marries Joaquin, Xibalba and La Muerte get to swap realms.

The story sort of goes from there, as we see the three main characters grow up. Joaquin becomes a hometown hero of sorts, and is of great pride to the family. Meanwhile Manolo is forced to train as a bullfighter while his father suppresses his desires to become a musician.

Although the overall story is somewhat basic, the execution is actually quite beautifully done. I quite enjoyed the choice of animation style here, making the main characters into wooden puppets, using that stop motion style we got familiar with after 'Nightmare Before Christmas'. The sets are something to be admired as well, as the film can go from fairly dull to big, bright and beautiful at the drop of a hat.

I think my only real criticism here is much more of a nitpick on my part, but this is another animated film that uses mainstream music for its soundtrack. Odds are, you're gonna be able to recognize the songs placed throughout. That said, however, they're few and far between, and each serves a genuine purpose to the story.

So, if you're looking for a good 'Day of the Dead' movie for the family that celebrates some of the finer points of Spanish culture, this isn't a bad place to look. As I said before, it's no 'Coco', but it's still a perfectly solid movie for what it is, full of good animation, charming moments, and one heck of a cast. I haven't even mentioned that the likes of Ice Cube, Danny Trejo and Cheech Marin all show up as well. It can be found on Netflix Canada now, so check it out and see the fun for yourself.

4/5

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