"The Book of Life" (2014) REVIEW

I had neutral feelings walking into the movie for two reasons: 1. The marketing really wanted people to know that Guillermo Del Toro produced the movie, which tells me nothing because he produces a ton of movies. He's great with visual effects, though. 2. It's from the same animators as Free Birds, which is an awful movie. However, Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood and Soul Eater showed me that just because it's the same animators doesn't mean the story is of equal quality.

Ever since they were kids, best friends Manolo and Joaquin have always competed for Maria's heart. After Maria returns years later from her studies, Joaquin has been named protector of Mexico and Manolo has grown up to become a lover of music, but forced by his father to go into bullfighting. Torn between fulfilling the family tradition or to follow his heart, Manolo makes a decision that incidentally leads him to his death. Having been cheated from living his life, Manolo goes on a journey get his life back, but first he must face his greatest fear.

I should probably start off by saying that this movie's strongest point is the animation, though it takes a while to get used to. The art style is interesting, the characters being wooden puppets and the backgrounds vivid and alive. The color tone chosen for each scene are very well done, changing from vibrant to bleak perfectly to match the mood of the scene. Simply put, this is one of the most artistic animated movies out there.

Now for the story and its execution. It's better than Free Birds and The Nut Job when it comes to animated kids movies, but don't expect another How to Train Your Dragon 2. The first third of the movie is slow and awkward, trying not to rush into things to be nice with the audience but drags a bit longer than necessary. However, it picks up after that and all is well. The voice acting is great and the positioning of viewpoints are astounding. Although, as good as the action sequences are, I felt there were clips missing or the viewpoint off target a bit, leaving me a bit confused where people were in the scene.

Even with these faults, I still enjoyed my time watching this movie more than I thought I would. Keep it up, Reel FX, and make sure to get the good scripts!

3/5 Stars

Comments

What to Read After Insomiac's Spider-Man

So you've just defeated the Sinister Six, maybe done a side mission here and there, or perhaps 100% completed what most are considering the best Spider-Man game ever made (and they're right). What now? Where do you go from here to learn more about the wisecracking wall-crawler? Besides Tom Holland's performance in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, we've never really seen Spider-Man portrayed so solidly like we have here. This, my friends, is where the fun part comes in: Entering the vast world of Spider-Man presented in comics and novels. Allow me to be your guide, providing recommendations for any requests you may be wishing for. "I just want more..." Well, you're in luck because Marvel has 2 options for you! Spider-Man: Hostile Takeover is the official prequel novel to the game, taking place 6 months prior. It follows Spider-Man trying to find an imposter killing people, working with a newfound friend from the police force to take ...

Books on Film by Black Authors

There's no real order to this list, nor can I guarantee which ones are worth reading or not. However, the quality of the books are not the point, but rather we should lend these voices our eyes, ears, and time, giving them a stronger voice than they would have had without at least mentioning them. Titles link to the Goodreads page for the specific book and additional links will be listed to buy the book from Barnes & Noble and/or Thriftbooks (non-affiliated). Don't forget to see if your local bookstore might have these in stock! Missing your favorite? Tweet me @AuthorKLau and I'll update the article! Independent Visions: A Critical Introduction to Recent Independent American Film by Donald Lyon Far from the big money movie machine of Hollywood lies the cutting-edge, artistically fresh world of American independent film. These independent filmmakers, working outside the formulas and constraints of the big studios, produce today’s most exciting and innovative movies. In ...

Is Thanos the Best MCU Villain?

Spoilers ahead! Avengers: Infinity War set out to be a huge, climactic start to the final main wave that originated back with Iron Man in 2008. In this installment, audiences are finally getting a front row seat at the big bad Marvel has been teasing since the first Avengers film: Thanos. Infinity War takes a macguffin approach in this story, the main items the characters are fighting for being the six infinity stones. The Avengers and Guardians of the Galaxy team up to keep the stones from Thanos but, if you've seen the film, they fail to do so and half of the universe gets wiped out Left Behind style. The Avengers couldn't beat Thanos because he was much too powerful for them. This, in turn, should make him the best villain in this cinematic universe, correct? Well, not quite. Marvel has had a rocky track record when it came to good villains in their films for the past 10 years. There are great ones like Killmonger ( Black Panther ), Vulture ( Spid...

Kevin Lau

Search This Blog