emilyardron
This film is almost exactly the same as Aladdin but Mexican themed. Beautiful- or supposedly, she was actually really ugly in my opinion- woman, loved by everyone, father trying to control her life, she wants one man though her father wants her to marry a different man. The characters are boring and stereotypical, and so is the plotline. The only reason I gave this film 3/10 instead of 1/10 is because some of the characters are so stupid and cringe that they are actually kind of funny. It's not a film worth enduring just to laugh at the characters, though.
SquigglyCrunch
I went into the Book of Life with very little expectations. I didn't even know what it was about, I was just curious. Unfortunately I have very mixed feelings about it. The plot is great. It's a romance where a woman must choose between two very different men, meanwhile two gods have placed bets on who will marry the woman. It's a twist on the romantic genre that I really appreciated, and it satisfied for the most part (although we've seen the whole 'woman must choose partner from two men' scenario before, but it's not something we can really complain about, so long as it's presented well). The first hour of the movie is absolutely stunning. The plot is done so perfectly that I couldn't wait to see the outcome. But during the last half-hour it declined into a very, very average movie. I saw great potential in how the story would continue, but sadly it was unable to do so. It suddenly indulged itself in some horrible clichés that were unbelievably ill-suited to the previous hour. The characters are quite great too. While some of them are cliché, they're presented in such a way that really doesn't emphasize that fact. But once again, in the last 30 minutes some of them slacked off a little, which was a real downer. Now, since I've gotten the main stuff out of the way, let me elaborate on the last 30 minutes. By that time the awe of the visual style had worn off, so it was suddenly less impressive. Not only that, but the movie suddenly became much more action orientated. Now I think that the action could have been used very effectively, but it wasn't taken seriously enough (I'll come back to this later). Now I know that the whole movie really wasn't taken very seriously, but they were little jokes that were still amusing and although not laugh out loud funny, still fit the movie. It managed to maintain a relatively serious tone throughout the movie, and by the hour mark it looked to be taking a much darker turn that I knew would be for the better. Unfortunately, it didn't take that darker turn, and instead became way more light- hearted and 'fun', only it didn't suit the rest of the movie so it really wasn't that fun. I saw serious potential in how the rest of the story would play out, but instead it went for some less dark, less serious, and more predictable path. Towards the end, when the climax happened it was very unoriginal and boring to watch because I'd seen it all before in other kid's movies, where even then I hadn't been impressed (as a kid). Still, the last 30 minutes weren't awful...or so I thought. To avoid spoilers I'll just say that something so stupid, so unoriginal, and so ill-suited happened that it really hurt to watch. And then something even worse happened, and suddenly The Book of Life had gone from one of the greatest movies I've ever seen, and probably the best romance I've ever seen, to just a good movie. Normally I might just give this movie a 6/10 and be on with it, but with the absolute awe I was in at the beginning of the movie, I had to pay this movie some credit. While the first hour was a solid 9.5/10 and the last half hour was a 4.5-5/10, I decided to do a bit of rough math and settled upon a 7.5/10, because the majority of it was fantastic, but 1/3 of the movie was garbage. Weighed in with the bitter disappointment of the ending I'd say that that's a pretty accurate rating for it.Overall The Book of Life was impressive to say the least. Never have I ever seen a movie go from phenomenal to absolute trash so abruptly. It didn't gradually become awful, it was just suddenly awful, and then it just kept getting worse. I understand that its a kid's movie but jeez, you could have made it dark and still child- friendly. Not all animated movies have to be child-friendly either. Nevertheless, the movie was, for the first 2/3, fantastic. The visuals were flawless, the plot was driven fantastically well, the characters were cliché but still great. The last 1/3 was blatantly cliché, predictable, disappointing, lacking in character, lacking in cleverness, lacking in tone, and lacking in originality. It was a complete disappointment. In the end I'd recommend this movie, but only for the visuals and first hour. After that you might as well finish it, but don't be surprised if you find yourself scratching your head and wondering what the heck went wrong in the writer's mind.
Python Hyena
The Book of Life (2014): Dir: Jorge Gutierrez / Voices: Diego Luna, Channing Tatum, Zoe Saldana, Ron Perlman, Christina Applegate: A diverse animation about one's true potential. It regards two competing males for the love of one female in the back drop of the Mexican Day of the Dead festival. Manolo Sanchez grew up in a family history of bull fighters. His father urges him to continue the tradition but he really desires being a musician. Joaquin is touted as the town hero and applauded by everyone. Maria is the romantic interest whom they both compete for since childhood. A bet is waged between the spirits of two worlds that seem to represent Heaven and Hell. A female spirit of the Land of the Remembered bets that Manolo will marry Maria. The spirit of the Land of the Forgotten bets that Joaquin will marry her and he cheats by equipping him with a magic medal as well as have Manolo bitten by a snake thus spiralling him into the Land of the Remembered. He must get back to the surface to life so to stop Maria from marrying Joaquin. The screenplay is creative until its pathetically corny action climax. The animation is terrible with horribly distorted faces and necks. The themes throughout with the festival may be too intense for young children. The three principal characters are appealing with voices by Diego Luna, Channing Tatum and Zoe Saldana. Other characters are not very broad, or are too overly corny to even identify with. The theme seems to be hitting one's highest potential but unfortunately this film doesn't hit its highest potential in terms of its target audience. Score: 6 ½ / 10
