Voices of Diego Luna, Zoe Saldana, Channing Tatum, and Ice Cube
Directed by Jorge R. Gutierrez
Music and Lyrics by various
We head back across the Atlantic to Mexico for our next holiday party. The Day of the Dead has been celebrated in Mexico for hundreds of years. It's a joyful celebration of those who have passed on, and the memories we hold dear of them. The holiday has become more popular in the US in the past two decades or so as more Hispanics and Mexicans have immigrated to the US, particularly in parts of the country with strong Mexican heritages like Texas, California, and Arizona.
This is the first of two movies made in the mid-2010's that revolve around the holiday. How does this romantic tale of a fateful wager that comes between three lovers look now? Let's start with a group of unruly school kids who are about to get an eye-opening museum tour from one unusual guide (Christina Applegate) and find out...
The Story: The guide leads the kids into a special room filled with amazing artifacts from Mexico, all revolving around their holiday the Day of the Dead. She uses wooden dolls to tell the story of Xibalba (Ron Perlman), bored ruler of the Land of the Forgotten, and La Murte (Kate de Castillo), the more colorful ruler of the Land of the Remembered. They bet that one of two boys in the village of San Angel can't win the heart of feisty Maria (Saldana). Joaquin is a strong-willed fighter. Manuelo comes from a family of bullfighters, but prefers his guitar and his music.
Xibalba gives Joaquin (Tatum) a medal that allows him to be indestructible, making him the town's champion against the terrible bandit Chakal (Dan Novarro) who terrorizes the village. La Murte's champion is gentle Manuelo (Luna), who has been trained in bullfighting, but refuses to harm the bull. He angers his father Carlos (Hector Elizondo), but impresses Maria. Maria's father General Posada (Carlos Alazraqui) wants her to marry Joaquin for the village's protection, but she truly loves Manuelo and his songs. He loves her, too, but when a snake bites her and he thinks she's dead, he lets it bite him, too. Now he has to figure out how to get out of the Land of the Remembered with the help of his ancestors and the Candlemaker (Ice Cube), who reminds him that his story isn't done quite yet.
The Animation: Colorful and fun, the artwork is meant to look like a puppet show. The backgrounds are key here, especially in the Land of the Remembered, where each frame bursts with a fiesta of detail. The detail on the characters is even better. Everything is animated to look like it was made from scrap, whether the wooden dolls or the iron of the bulls and bandits or the cut-out paper flowers in the Land of the Remembered.
The Song and Dance: Vibrant and fun, this is an energetic look at one of Mexico's most beloved holidays. My favorite character is actually Maria. This take-charge beauty won't let anything or anyone stand in her way of helping others, whether it's bandits or butchers who are about to slaughter helpless animals. Saldana gives her the right take-charge air. Perlman and del Castillo also had a good time as the married gods whose careless bet gets the plot rolling, while Luna makes an especially sensitive Manuelo. Loved Manuelo's ancestors turning up in the end as a literal "army of the dead."
Favorite Number: We open with Jesse & Joy celebrating life in all its joys and sorrows with "Live Life." The boys say "I Will Wait" for Maria in a montage showing how Joaquin became a hero and Manuelo reluctantly trained for bullfighting. Manuelo admits that "I Love You Too Much" and recruits friends to help him serenade Maria with "Can't Help Falling In Love." He sings "The Apology Song" right before they're bitten by the snake. Joaquin attempts to serenade Maria with "Do Ya Think I'm Sexy," but Maria's reply is "Just a Friend."
What I Don't Like: Even the stunning animation can't make up for the cliched story and songs that don't belong here. The story of the bet comes off as witless and silly, and the dialogue is occasionally stiff. They should have corralled an actual Mexican songwriter to do music for the movie, as Disney would with Coco three years later. The modern pop music is so jarring, it completely takes you out of their carefully crafted fantasy world.
The Big Finale: Worth seeing with your family on the Day of the Dead for the stunning visuals alone.
Home Media: As a relatively recent film, this is easily found on disc and streaming. It's on Disney Plus with a subscription, thanks to them buying 20th Century Fox a few years ago.
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