Pixar's Coco Review

     

     Pixar has been recognized as one of the most prestigious animation studios of all time and for good reason. They have been involved with making some of the best animated films in over the past few decades, films that rather than just entertain kids, enlighten and gives them great insight and mature themes that go more in depth from a storytelling and emotional perspective. With their new film Coco, some were predicting that it wasn’t quite going to be that, but now that the film is finally here, that is far from the truth. Coco is another excellent animation achievement created by Pixar and proves that even with some weaker films here and there, they still have the magic touch.

     The story of Coco is about a music obsessed boy named Miguel, who feels like an outcast by his family as they don’t quite see the love and appreciation of music that he has. Eventually events unfold to where he ends up in the Land of the Dead during Dios De La Muertos and discovers the true insight behind his family history and how they perceive music and the relationships they have with it. The story is standard enough with some character and story elements that we’re used to seeing from Pixar before with outsider characters, the main characters are an unlikely duo and of course some incredibly important messages, but like the very best of Pixar’s movies, this movie excels from having a lot of heart. There’s a lot of passion and love dedicated to developing this story where even if someone could see where it’s going, there’s always a slight twist to it which helps gives it an edge. With its focus on family and music, it really takes the time to let some of the moments really sink in, especially the heart felt ones, there’s a couple of moments in particular are guaranteed to be some of the biggest tear jerker moments in Pixar, right alongside the opening to Up and the ending of Toy Story 3. Not only that, but when it comes to the culture of the movie, taking place in Mexico, the film really truly respects the culture. It doesn’t feel like this is an American made movie just cheaply referencing another culture for another audience, it feels incredibly authentic with nothing too out of the ordinary and also really giving insight to the importance of Day of the Dead. Considering this is coming out shortly after the Book of Life, it’s easy to assume that this might come across as an knock-off, but in reality this manages to expand more upon the discussion of Day of the Dead more than Book of Life did, giving real insight into the importance of the holiday without being a full retelling of the legends dealing with the Holiday. It is a film that not only respects its audience but also the culture it’s representing and does it incredibly beautiful.

     A Pixar movie isn’t a true one without some incredibly well realized and written characters, and this cast brings it all. Miguel is one of Pixar’s youngest protagonists but is also one of the most charming. The child actor voicing him does an excellent job all around both during singing scenes and regular dialogue. But the character is so passionate about his music that you can’t help but admire him and his journey to also learn more about his family and why that’s just as important and not more so. In fact, nearly most of the characters have to learn a message which gives the whole theme of family and passion more of an importance because rather than something that should be separate, it shows how well both can work with when the go hand in hand. Probably the best character in the film is Miguel’s friend Hector, a walking skeleton who wants to visit the land of the living. He’s not only a fun character that has a lot of great moments and is animated incredibly well, but his story becomes more so the heart and soul of the film and he’s definitely the most fascinating and sympathetic character to watch for sure. The film also doesn’t quite have an antagonist till near the end, but unlike some of the other Disney films where the antagonist comes in and it might feel like a last minute take or too obvious of a reveal, the execution of this character works for the story and this antagonist ends up becoming one of the most despicable Disney villains in quite some time and adds a lot of tension to the drama of the film. Not to mention the films’ characters do still have a lot of twist and turns to them which gives the film more of an unpredictable nature. Coco really makes sure that the audience takes away its characters in the midst of an incredibly heartfelt story.

     Like most Pixar films as well, the film has to be recognized on a visual level and Coco looks absolutely amazing from an animation perspective. Starting with the design, the film looks more distinct from other Pixar films, there is a bit of standard Pixar flare with its human designs and also in the real world the backgrounds tend to look more realistic, but all of that is executed well. What makes the film more distinct however is the land of the dead which looks outstanding from the whole film being vibrant with so many warm and cool colors, being true to what the culture of Day of the Dead is. With the building being more abstract and also the creatures in the film being some of the most colorful characters visually Pixar has ever made. Not to mention, the skeleton not only look unique in comparison to other Animated Skeletons but they also move very well, giving them a great look both in and out of motion. The film is absolutely beautiful to look at, making it one of Pixar’s best films artistically. But with a movie with a huge emphasis in music, Coco also delivers all across. The film isn’t quite as over abundant with songs in comparison to other Animated musicals however probably more so than other musicals, it feels very authentic. Where Disney movies the songs are incorporate into the film with pretty much no real context to them as why they are singing, Coco does it differently as the film gives a reason for the music to exist and for the songs to still exist naturally within the world of the film. But the music is nothing if the music in this film wasn’t good and luckily it is. Although most of the songs aren’t quite as catchy in the vain of something like Let It Go from Frozen or You’re Welcome from Moana, but they are a joy to listen to and unlike other non-Disney Musicals where they feel the need to just be cover of pop songs, this film has the luxury of giving us more original compositions for a change and they work. The main theme Remember Me might be one of the most heart-felt songs in recent Animation history and plays into this film in the best way. Aesthetically from sound and visuals, Coco delivers as one of the most appealing films to look at and listen to from this entire year.

     2017 may have been an amazing year for film but the one weak area it has been in is in the Animation department. Luckily with LEGO Batman being released at the beginning of the year and Coco being released near the end, it’s safe to say this year in Animation started and ended on a high note. Coco is another Pixar instant classic. It may have some story elements that have been seen before but the film’s characters, theme and emotions make it a truly magical experience. Pixar still has the golden touch making a film about the dead so much full of life. 

Justice League Review

     In a time where Marvel has been looked upon as the greatest franchise of all time by fans and audiences, nearly every other studio has tried to recreate that magic in some way with a certain time of characters. Some do it rather well with ideas that want to be seen like Warner Brother’s Giant Monster movies or Fox’s X-men, others fail miserably with ideas people don’t want with Universal Dark Universe and Sony’s attempts with Ghostbusters and Spider Man. Then there’s DC, the property that is probably the most wanted and desired franchise to see come to like in a cinematic universe the same way as Marvel. It makes sense considering the history of many of these icons have with people all over the world, however the DC Cinematic Universe has been arguably the most criticized, whether it be the films themselves or people strongly preferring Marvel, DC has been given a bad reputation. Things have been better now with the release of the fantastic Wonder Woman and now, while not quite better than that film; things are continuing to be good with Justice League, a film while heavy in its flaws, delivers in its satisfaction to fans of DC.

     The story of Justice League is Bruce Wayne becoming a changed man after the death of Superman wants to create a team with Diana Prince to stop an even bigger evil among them. The plot serves as a basic set up compared to some of the previous DC films and it works due to the fact that the film doesn’t try to over convolute itself in terms of plot, it’s straightforward and simple which is refreshing for those who criticized DC for being over complicated with its story. It’s a more light-hearted rom compared to the other DC films, which could lead for it to be overly jokey and just trying to copy Marvel. While not every single joke works, the tone surprising works due to the fact that it’s not limited to a joke every five seconds like some Marvel movies do, instead the films has a good amount of moments where it’s more dark and serious and the humor really only appears when needed, mostly when it involves with certain characters. It’s not quite perfect with its serious and humorous moments, but it balances it out enough to where it doesn’t feel like overkill. If there are some issues with the story and tone is mainly because the film does feel a bit rushed. While the audiences’ gets the jest of the story and it’s easy to follow, there are moments where it feels like characters could be fleshed out more and feel somewhat lacking in some story elements. The bigger issue though is more so something in relation to other comic book movies in the sense that one of the advantages DC has over other Superhero films is that they really try to make something with a bit of substance to it and Justice League while has a lot of heart to it, doesn’t feel like it has the substance akin to the Dark Knight. Even Batman vs. Superman and Man of Steel while weaker movies, attempted to give something with some substance and there isn’t that much here, it is more so fluff than anything else. It doesn’t tarnish the entertainment factor this movie has, but it would have been more powerful if the film expanded upon more ideas and themes instead of being a straight up action film, despite how amazing some of these moments are.

   

     The shiny moment of Justice League as a film are its characters, in comparison to nearly every other DC film, this movie gets its characters right. Justice League characters not only have a ton of personality but there are 100% the characters from the comics brought to life. Affleck’s Batman has always been one of the high point of the DCEU alongside Gal Gadot’s Wonder Woman and here, they are excellent.  Gal Gadot’s presence is incredibly large both as a the kind and always heroic Amazonian princess we knew from her solo film and Batman being not only more developed and having more of his trademark elements here compared to the previous DC films but also still having the bold bruiting presence that the character is known for. Henry Cavill returns as Superman in this and where many felt his character of Superman was too somber and cold, his performance in this shines as the true symbol of hope fans deserved, he may come later into the film, but his sequence is one of the most fantastic Superman moments ever put onto screen. As for the new cast, the highlight is easily Ezra Miller as the Flash. Miller’s Flash is where most of the comedy comes in as it should for a character like Barry Allen. There are some jokes that don’t work as well, but Miller’s snarky attitude really gives the character some personality and life to him. Ray Fischer’s Cyborg is another highlight, being the most serious of the group, especially in comparison to his Teen Titans counterpart, but his story manages to be quite tragic and he has the most development with a full arch to him, making him incredibly great to see. Of the team though, Jason Moamoa’s Aquaman is without a doubt the weakest link of the team. His character doesn’t have that much to offer asides from being the dude bro archetype that looks bad-ass, however even he has some good lines and moments for sure. Even with Aquaman as the weakest team member, he is excellent in comparison to the lacking villain. Stepphen has very little motivation and backstory to him and little personality outside of the typical, giant monster type creature who wants to take over the world. Outside of that character being a big blemish in Justice League, the whole cast is excellent and makes this movie a million times better than it was expected to be.

     Aesthetically, Justice League serves as an incredibly appealing film. The color palette is a bit brighter for a film with a more light hearted tone, but still has some good cinematography to boot, giving the film a cinematic flare that’s sometimes lacking in Marvel. The film feels grand and epic at points, especially during the action sequences. Every single action scene has a lot to them visually with every single character having at least one moment to shine, the highlight being their comradery and how they work together in the action sequences, giving fans the exhilarating feeling of seeing these characters interact on the big screen.  If there are any faults with the movie from a visual perspective is that sometimes the film gets too CGI heavy at points. A lot of moments of CGI work very well and look appealing, even better than initially thought like Cyborg’s design, while other times the CGI could use an extra rendering like some of the effects during the final action sequence. As for the music, DC tends to have a score that certainly rivals Marvel in terms of excellent soundtracks, and this time the score is done by veteran composer Danny Elfman. There are moments of Zimmer’s Man of Steel and Wonder Woman’s theme, but there isn’t much of it here, which is a bit of a shame considering how great his score was for Snyder’s DC films. Elfman score is quite serviceable but does feel a bit weaker in some regards to Zimmer; however his contribution to the film was worth it for nothing else to hear his amazing theme for Batman which hasn’t been heard in a film like this for over 20 years. Not only that, but the original John Williams Superman theme appears and it’d be hard to be a DC fan and not get some sort of chills down after hearing those themes again. If there is one last thing to mention about the film is that it surprisingly doesn’t feel as jarring with two directors attached. Snyder and Whedon are directors with two distinct styles and while there are moments that feel more like one director over the other, the film doesn’t feel like one single moment was taken over by a certain auteur’s style. It’s a DC film first and foremost and Whedon’s dialogue mixes quite well with Snyder’s direction for the most part. As a film with numerous reshoots and rewrites, it comes together much better than a mess, not fully clean but certainly works.

     Justice League is a satisfying film, certainly not the best and could have been improved in various ways, but as something that could have been disappointing, it serves as an incredibly enjoyable romp. It has enough character and spectacle to please any fan of blockbusters but also the heart and soul of the DC Universe that fans have been waiting for and deserve. By no means a masterpiece but is a film that definitely will get those excited for future installments, and here’s to more even better DC films after that.

THOR RAGNAROK REVIEW

     The Marvel Cinematic Universe may be considered the most critically acclaim film franchise of this current generation, but they haven’t always struck gold as much as fans claim. The Thor films in particular often tend to be a dark spot in Marvel’s great track record. The first was a decent film with some flaws in terms of making a movie about a god and bringing him down to Earth and the second one is considered by many to be the worst Marvel. With that in mind and also the stigma of third film, there could have been a strong possibly for the third Thor movie to be the worst Marvel movie. Luckily, Thor Ragnarok, while still flawed in some areas where the MCU can improve upon, manages to be an incredible enjoyment and unique route for a Marvel film to go through.

     Much like the first Thor, the plot of Ragnorak deals with Thor being a fish out of water story, however this time instead of a mythical god being in a world we’re familiar with, this time it’s a fantasy character in a science fiction world. As Thor ends up a part of a strange planet to which he has to escape in order to save Asgard from the apocalyptic event known as Ragnorak, and the on the way he meets up with new and older friends and foe on his journey. The film’s plot does serve as somewhat of an issue in regard to the film’s tone. Much like other Marvel movies, the film makes very little effort to have a ton of dramatic moments and instead uses this time to crack jokes. This serves as bit of an issue as since the film is essentially about the apocalypse, it does feel like the threat of it isn’t being taking as seriously as it should be. This would be a major issue for another other Marvel movie, however this film surprisingly works. The best way to describe this movie is take the story sci-fi elements of Samurai Jack but give it the humor and zaniness of Army of Darkness, and although Ragnorak isn’t nearly as good as either of those things, this combination serves as an incredibly entertaining one. Even though there are a couple of misses in terms of hit hard jokes, more often than not the film’s humor works incredibly well, mostly due to the actors giving it their all and having great timing with their jokes. This film got a director that is known for his comedy and the payoff is really good because it’s one of the funnier Marvel movies in recent memories. Thankfully Marvel was able to hire someone like Taika Waititi because if the film was made by anyone else with the same plot and attempt at humor, it would have fall flat on its face and most likely have Kat Dennings still making poor Two Broke Girls style jokes.

     As mentioned earlier, the cast of Thor Ragnorak does an excellent job working with Taika’s direction and sense of humor. Actors like Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo and Tom Hiddleston have been great in their other movies prior but here they manage to have more fun with the material given to them. They’re given plenty of opportunities to improvising and play their characters in a way that even if the script’s jokes aren’t the funniest, their delivery of them easily makes them a million times better. As for the new cast of characters, they also work very well with their material, Tessa Thompson as Valkyrie is very fun as the drunken yet bad-ass warrior she is, and Jeff Goldblum wasn’t so much playing a character as he was playing Jeff Goldblum but for the film’s bizarre tone, it was very fitting. Cate Blanchette comes close to being one of the best Marvel villains, although sometimes the scenes where she has to tell jokes do feel a bit forced given how serious her character is compared to the rest of the film. Never the less, her character still has a great design and she give it her all playing as the antagonist Helena. The highlight of the new cast is the character played by Taika Waititi himself, Korg. Korg might be the funniest character to the MCU, he’s given some of the best lines and humors and his character design with his voice is so mismatched it because one of the funniest jokes in the entire film by itself. Korg and the rest of the cast serves as a summary to why this movie works so well, it’s a bit mismatched, but it’s so strange and funny, you forgive it for being bizarrely entertaining.

    It would not be a Marvel movie without a lot of spectacle flare and Thor Ragnarok certainly has a lot of flare in that regard. However, if there is a downside to this film, it’s also the visual elements. It’s not to say the visual effects or cinematography is poorly done, in fact they’re quite well done. Where the film has it faults in the visual elements is how the film appears as a movie as something that the MCU films are criticized for are there lack of color in terms of filming. Something about most of the MCU films don’t look nearly as cinematic as they should look and Thor Ragnarok suffers from this the most. It’s unsure whether this is due to the lighting or camera being used, but the film looks as it needs to have a bit more flare and filmic look to it, something about how the film looks most of the time seems oddly lacking. It’s disappointing in a sense that this film has potential to look amazing with all the set designs, CGI and cinematography being all up to par on what is expected from a good blockbuster, however there is a feel that this film could have looked more cinematic. This wasn’t a problem with Guardians of the Galaxy 2 or Spider Man Homecoming so it’s rather surprising to see this problem here. Not to say that the film doesn’t have visually impressive moments that do look cinematic, in fact those moments are most definitely the highlights of the film. Even when it does have those visuals elements lacking, Ragnarok is still a visually appealing film as a whole.

     It’s amazing to see a film from what is the weaker of the Marvel films to have the third one be pretty damn good in its own way. Thor Ragnarok is unique, funny and an over-all delight to behold. It may have some tonal issues and some visual flare is to be desired but it still manages to be an incredibly entertaining film from Marvel. It is another solid Comic Book Movie to add to this year’s consistent record of good films with our favorite superheroes.