The Book of Life (2014)

I have really looked forward to watching this one ever since i watched the trailer for it.. so in a weekend embraced by friends i finally got around to putting it on..

The Book of Life holds the stories of every person to have ever lived on this earth. One of these stories is about 3 friends; a girl and the 2 boys courting her. So on one night of the dead, La Muerte and Xibalba kinda makes a bet on which boy is gonna get the girl.,, La Muerte chooses Manolo, the boy who makes music from the heart and Xibalba chooses Joaquin, the boy who always fight for what is right.. After a small pig incident Maria however is sent away to become a proper lady (why is it this happens so much in movies). The fight between Manolo and Joaquin continues through the years and when Maria returns home the game is getting tougher... ending in Xibalba cheating a bit... so now the question is who will marry Maria and who is gonna rule the world of the remembered?

i dont really know why but the day of the dead has always intrigued me.. something about celebrating your dead loved ones instead of crying for them.. and the little i do know about the day of the dead is that it is a celebration in remembrance of those you love. anywho the movie.. I love that they chose to build the movie as a story told.. meaning you have these kids that are listening to a female guide telling them a story about a love triangle... and as a nice touch all the characters look like these little wood figurines that the guide are showing the kids.. to me that is a very nice detail. I also love that they have kept the drawing style in what i would know as Mexican culture (don't know if Mexicans would agree...) but generally the animations is complete and wonderful to watch... 

so with all this good said this movie must be perfect.. well sadly no... the animation is wonderful but they choose to totally sellout on the music.. using different love songs at cued moments.. thing is it just doesn't fit right.. if they had made music fitting the story with a Mexican style to it this movie would have earned top marks and in my book even a cult status.. this is how well carried out the animation and story is.. to bad they didn't give it all and gave it the proper music that it truly deserved...

anywho i do recommend it because even with the dreadful choice in music it is an above average movie...