The Book of Life
The Book of Lifeworks as a visually dazzling celebration of Mexican culture, though its conventional kids' movie elements leave something to be desired.
The Book of Lifetakes site a long time ago in Mexico , where a trine of puerility friends are separate and each instructed on how to fulfill the expectations of their several family . Years later , the three reunite as immature adults : sensitive bull - fighter Manolo ( Diego Luna ) , whose true Passion of Christ is music ; macho , but ripe - natured , soldier Joaquin ( Channing Tatum ) , who ’s consider as a hero by his hometown ; and healthy , forward - thinking , Maria ( Zoe Saldana ) , who is pursued romantically by both Manolo and Joaquin .
However , unbeknown to the three mortals , the rulers of the two Scheol - the angelic , if hot - temper , La Muerte ( Kate de Castillo ) and her lover , the magical scoundrel Xibalba ( Ron Perlman ) - have a bet running , about which of Maria ’s longtime champion will come through her heart . When it appears that he might lose that stakes , Xibalba takes whole step to for good separate Maria and Manolo - impel the latter to go on a grand journey across the three worlds , in the Bob Hope of being reunify with his love .
Book of Lifeis the feature directorial debut for animated filmmaker Jorge R. Gutierrez , though the film ’s marketing has banked hard on Guillermo del Toro ’s involvement as producer . The spectacularly colorful animate worlds and reference design featured inBook of Life , as crafted by Reel FX Creative Studios ( Free Birds ) , are very much the film ’s strongest component ; the narrative and thematic through business , however , at last prove to be less telling .
Thanks to a modern - day account frame in equipment , the independent character reference inBook of Lifeare , quite literally , think to resemble stylishly - designed Mexican wooden figurines . Indeed , as a whole , the film is inform by the traditional esthetics of the Day of the Dead holiday , resulting in a 3D figurer - revivify feature article thatlooksunlike any other broad film release in recent storage . Gutierrez and his animators combine these evocative and fantastical visuals with appropriately cartoony mechanics and larger than life vocal performances , allowing the pic to maintain a frantic and often dizzying feel throughout its fleetly - pace 90 - minute(ish ) runtime .
In short : you might not be sure what you just watch onceBook of Lifeis over , but you ’ll be certain that itlookedgreat … whatever it was . That holds on-key no matter of the see data formatting , so three-D is n’t a requisite here ( though it only enhances the overall experience ) .
Most Hollywood studio animated feature of speech nowadays coalesce impressionism with picture - realism , butBook of Lifeinstead delivers stylized caricature of everything ( people , animate being , building , and so on ) , which helps to make up the difference when the film ’s relatively restrained invigoration budget ( $ 50 million ) begins to show . Similarly , the movie generally makes effective use of cinematic storytelling technique ( montage , for example ) to keep thing moving along smoothly , even when its script work ( like the melodious chronological sequence that attempt to re - spin hit pop songs and other thrust attempt at being " hip " ) and the dialogue comes up short .
Book of Lifeis well when offering a dim-witted and fun institution to certain traditional Mexican ethnical / spiritual impression ( for filmgoers ofallages ) , as well as when it explore sure relevant issues - such as how traditional practices and gender role can develop without being completely abandoned . However , much of that cloth is restricted to the movie ’s first deed ; by its half - way point , Book of Lifehas become a more traditional hero ’s journey - one that enwrap up with a standard , yet hollow " big confrontation " during its third act . The screenplay by Gutierrez and Douglas Langdale also fall short when it come to providing suitable arcs for sealed key players ( Maria , in particular ) .
A issue of the part archetype and tropes inBook of Liferesemble those that were normally find in Disney animize moving-picture show in the 1990s - something that makes sense as Langdale got his start as a author on movies likeThe Return of Jafarand theDarkwing Duckcartoon serial publication - and , as such , palpate a bit outdated for an revive feature article liberate in 2014 . However , despite the occasional overt similarity to famous character reference from Disney ’s animation catalogue , the main players inBook of Lifeare given enough depth to come up off as more than just cheap knockoffs .
Diego Luna as Manolo offers a nice commixture of purity , heart , and naiveness with his outspoken performance , while Zoe Saldana contribute the ripe mix of fragrance and attitude as she voices Maria … though neither role is a real stretching for the various doer . likewise , Joaquin lies very much in Channing Tatum ’s pilothouse ( read : the good - natured , but forgetful lump played often for comedic outcome ) , though having Tatum use his regular representative - in a film where other cast appendage either have an authentic Mexican stress or get to a fair to middling attempt at one - makes things finger a little off , whenever Joaquin speaks . ( There ’s a22 Jump Streetjoke in there somewhere , but run on … )
Manolo (Diego Luna) and Maria (Zoe Saldana) in ‘The Book of Life’
The support mold inBook of Lifeall do fine work handling their characters ' big than life story personality , be it Ron Perlman and Kate de Castillo as the spar immortal lovers and lords of the netherworld , or Ice Cube as another primal mystical soma , known as The Candle Maker ( he ’s to this movie what Robin Williams ' Genie is to Disney’sAladdin , in some manner ) .
Other voices you may greet ( though you might have hassle remembering exactly which character they brought to life after the motion-picture show is done ) admit Héctor Elizondo , Cheech Marin , Gabriel Iglesias , and Danny Trejo ; all do a solid Book of Job manipulation what tend to be very cartoonish personality . last , Christina Applegate provides the voice for a chipper museum tour guide inBook of Life ’s present - day scenes ; it ’s ultimately a bit of a discarded role , but Applegate gain the most of what she ’s give to act upon with .
The Book of Lifeworks as a visually dazzling solemnization of Mexican culture , though its conventional kids ' motion picture chemical element leave something to be want . It ’s worth seeing on a big CRT screen for the optic confect alone , but its story shortcomings ultimately result in a movie that ’s just " good " - and thus , something that you may also just wait to watch out at home ( where you ’ll still be able to appreciate the film ’s centre - popping colors on Blu - shaft of light or a similar format ) .
Manolo (Diego Luna) and Maria (Zoe Saldana) in ‘The Book of Life’
TRAILER
The Book of Lifeis now playing in U.S. theaters . It is 95 minutes long and is rat PG for mild action , rude humor , some thematic element and abbreviated scary figure of speech .
In the Mexican town of San Angel , two untried men are competing for the affection of their childhood ally Maria — but Xibalba , the mythical ruler of the Land of the Forgotten , interferes in their affairs in an effort to get ahead a stake with his married woman .
Maria (Zoe Saldana) in ‘The Book of Life’
