Everybody knows about my love for colours, Mexico, Frida Kahlo and Disney. So, therefore, I was head over heels when I was asked to attend the press screening of Coco, the new Disney Pixar movie. Ladies and Gentlemen, this is my first ever movie review, and I went to the cinema with high expectations. But could Coco fulfill them or was it like a piñata filled with cheap sweets?
Let’s first talk about the story: Young Miguel, a Mexican boy, dreams of being a famous musician and play the guitar just like his idol. But to his bad luck, he is the son of a prosperous clan of a shoemaker who expects him to carry on their craftmanship. The hatred for musicians runs deep in his family. Miguel rebels against his relatives on the Day of the Dead. After a strange incident, he finds himself trapped on the other side with the dead where he meets as well his ancestors. The boy must try to find his way back to the land of the living and ends up being torn between his love for music and his family, facing the danger of turning into a skeleton himself.
The most impressive thing about the movie: The land of the dead. It’s just one of the visually most stunning animated worlds I’ve ever seen. This fantastically designed place full of neon-lights is inhabited by skeletons, hosts the biggest parties, and you will even witness a show directed by goddess Frida Kahlo herself featuring a giant papaya. One last thing I need to mention: All animals are so colourful and cute, I swear you will catch yourself wishing for a rainbow dog even if you are an absolute cat person!
The story of the movie sounds very much like a typical Disney story with an important moral lesson at the end and a lot of cheesy scenes and singing. If this is what you are looking for you will not be disappointed (ok, maybe there is not that much singing). But there is far more about Coco: It’s a complex universe, a movie that makes you think about legacies, personal ambitions, inner conflicts and the question what matters most in life. There is even murder being revealed, so don’t be fooled it’s all harmless and for children only.
While it’s predictable that there must be kind of a happy end like in all Disney movies, Coco surprises with surprising twists to please the grown-ups and an easy to follow main storyline to make the children happy. It manages this balancing act successfully, and I confess: Yes I even left the cinema with tears in my eyes and the vast urge to decorate my hair with flowers and paint myself a monobrow.
Coco is fun, adorable and a visual treat you don’t want to miss! Now it’s your turn to be amazed:
Win 3 x 2 Tickets
to see Coco at the Cinema
valid in Switzerland in all cinemas
Just leave a comment below or on my Instagram.
Winners will be noticed on the 10th of December.
Good luck!
