Above: The animated cast of "The Book of Life"
There’s a memorable moment in Marvel’s “Guardians
of the Galaxy” when, after breaking out of jail and recovering his precious
walkman, Peter Quill celebrates by flying through the void of space on his
rocket boots, listening to “Escape (The Piña Colada Song)” by Rupert Holmes. I bring this up because I thought that it
would be the strangest musical moment I’d see in 2014.
Yet the new animated film “The Book of
Life” proved me wrong with an utterly bizarre moment when the main character’s
angst at failing to earn the affections of his true love is expressed by him
singing, of all things, “Creep” by Radiohead. I don’t know if the filmmakers wanted older
viewers to take this seriously or what, but I was damn near rolling in the
aisles when it happened. The song choice
was totally out of left field and, to its credit, absolutely unforgettable.
The
singer of this song is Manolo Sanchez (Diego Luna), who would rather play
guitar than follow his family’s tradition and become a bullfighter; his
aforementioned love is Maria Posada (Zoe Saldana), a gentle soul who is also
loved by Manolo’s childhood friend, the heroic soldier Joaquin (Channing
Tatum). Little do Manolo and Joaquin
know that they’re both pawns of the rulers of the Lands of the Dead, La Muerte
(Katie del Castillo) and Xibalba (Ron Perlman).
These two have a wager going over which of the suitors will marry Maria
and when Xibalba cheats and has Manolo killed, the musical matador must team up
with the spirits of his family to escape the Underworld, prove his love, and
save his town from a gang of vicious banditos.
It’s
rare that a mainstream animated feature goes for a look outside of the
Pixar/DreamWorks aesthetic, but “The Book of Life” does something unique and
beautiful. The designs of the locales
are like Mexican artwork brought to stunning life, with the film’s Land of the
Remembered being particularly vibrant, like a Day of the Dead-themed level in
Super Mario Land; the characters are drawn in an exaggerated, Bruce Timm-esque
style that makes them recognizable and memorable; and the movement of the
characters and their surroundings is fluid and cool, making the movie’s mix of
slapstick and action fast-paced and engaging. Director and co-writer Jorge R. Gutierrez and
the animators at Reel FX Creative Studios have really made something special
here.
The
script is solid too; “The Book of Life” is certainly a fun action-adventure piece
that holds your attention. Yet it isn’t
quite as unconventional as it wants to be and its use of music doesn’t always
hit the mark. The soundtrack is an odd
mixture of pop hits, some of which fit snugly into the narrative (“Can’t Help
Falling in Love with You” by Elvis Presley), some of which raise an eyebrow (“I
Will Wait” by Mumford and Sons), some of which are as strange as the
aforementioned “Creep,” and some of which are original songs. They’re all done in a mariachi style, which
helps some of them but hurts others.
Still,
“The Book of Life” has an edge over other animated features, not just because
of its visual style, but because it’s also a fun and engaging look at another
culture. It’s rare that we get a
wide-release feature is this off the beaten path, but this one hit home for me.
The movie is funny, energetic, and looks
sublime. Go check it out, and hopefully,
we’ll get more like it.
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