Coco Was a Surprise

Finals have just recently finished for us college folk, so I figured it was a good idea to take my newfound freedom and drag my mother to Coco with me. I'd meant to watch it back in November when it came out, but month-long programming final projects don't do themselves, you know. My mom was straight up bored until the last quarter of the film, but I believe I feel more positively about it.

Truth be told, I do feel that the beginning of the movie is pretty boring - or at least it sets you up to believe that it will be boring. Things pick up once we get to the Land of the Dead, though. Basically, the further you get into the movie, the better it gets. It's certainly better than going in the opposite direction.

I loved the music and the songs, I loved the characters, I loved the warmth of the film and the importance of family, and I loved the plot. Coco is a feel good movie that reminds you to follow your dreams, and that's always a nice concept to emphasize. My favorite part of the film is either the adorable doggo or honestly, Miguel's entire family. Yes, they could be overbearing at times, but it stemmed from a place of love, and I adored getting to see them actually listening to each other. And even in the beginning, it was clear that Miguel's parents were never so mad as to forget his feelings; it's such a sweet thing to see.

The entire story revolves around the importance of putting up pictures of family members during The Day of the Dead, except of course it's Disney-fied and adorable. The theater was almost empty since it's been several weeks since the movie came out, but there were a pair of kids a couple rows below us, and they were laughing out loud at scenes that I only smiled at: a sad reminder that I'm getting old.

I know rating movies with either a thumbs up or thumbs down is an awful way to go about things, but Netflix does it, and sometimes being horrible is fun. I give Coco a thumbs up.  It's a light, fun, meaningful film, although I wouldn't go in expecting something fast paced. I'm doubtful as to whether I'd finish the movie if I watched it at home, but having seen the entire film, I really do like it a lot. The only thing I'd change is the speed of things happening - I'm that impatient person who prefers newer films to older films, and prefers cut after cut after cut to long takes.