I doubt I’d be unique in saying that Pixar’s films have held a special place in my heart. Films that helped to shape the wonder of my childhood, only to gain new meaning as I grew older and looked back on the themes the films presented. While I will never lose my fondness for the likes of Toy Story or Finding Nemo, I felt that the studio has hit a bit of a rough patch recently. Challenging my perception that the studio could do no wrong with a string of underwhelming sequels and originals films like the Good Dinosaur, which were major storytelling missteps. While I found Inside Out to be brilliant, it still wasn’t enough to quell my hesitation going into Coco. But I am pleased to say that my trepidation was misplaced.
On the topic of Inside Out, every Pixar movie is going to have big shoes to fill attempting to follow the gargantuan success of that movie, and I do feel that Coco, at least somewhat, lives in that films shadow. But it does certainly carve its own identity outside of Pixar previous works. Specifically in the visual department, Coco is a vibrant, and gorgeously animated film. Each frame full of color and detail. The impressive architecture in the land of the dead give this location an otherworldly grandness, akin to something I might see in a Kenneth Branagh film. The characters and environments are given so much time and detail and it creates an experience that is a joy to look at, creating true moments of power in purely visual ways.
I think Coco’s visual style is its biggest trait, but that’s not to discount the upbeat score that drives a lot of the film. Music plays a huge role in Coco’s story and the songs were a joy to listen to, spanning a range of emotions while sticking to a tight style that helped to unify the film. But while Coco does plenty of things right, it’s not perfect, and personally I feel that on the story telling front the film (somewhat) falters. This is a short film, a little over an hour and a half. Personally I think the film could have benefited from another 20 minutes or so of fleshing out the world and the characters. There are a lot of characters but aside from a few exceptions I never really got a very good grasp of what they were like or what purpose they served the film. To swing back to what I said about Inside Out lingering over this movie, it’s hard for me to look at the brilliant development of that films cast and still give this one a pass. I also wish we would have had more time to breathe in the environment the story takes place in. With a setting as detailed and gorgeous as the land of the dead it’s a shame how quickly we were yanked through it during the short run time.
Coco isn’t perfect and it does occasionally have trouble living up to Pixar's dazzling track record, but despite this it’s still a sweet and beautiful ode to family and music. The movie is so packed full of funny and wholesome moments that it really does dissolve any criticisms I could throw at the film. Like the best Pixar films it’s bright colors and engaging cast can pull in younger viewers, but still manage to engross older viewers with thought provoking themes and moments of real dramatic heft. I think if, like me, you were starting to worry Pixar was losing it’s way Coco should help to calm your fears.