The Book of Life
2/4
Starring (voices): Diego Luna, Zoe Saldana, Channing Tatum, Ron Perlman, Kate del Castillo, Hector Elizondo, Carlos Alazraqui, Christina Applegate, Ice Cube
Rated PG for Mild Action, Rude Humor, Some Thematic Elements and Brief Scary Images
Guillermo del Toro really wants "The Book of Life" to be just like something out of the Disney canon (the good ones from the early 90's). He and his director, Jorge R. Gutierrez, even borrow from the best of them, the most obvious being "Beauty and the Beast," "Aladdin" and "Hercules." Sadly, it doesn't really come together. The film definitely has its moments and gets points for spectacle, but it lacks the one thing that made the Disney greats so special: humanity. The characters in movies like "Beauty and the Beast" felt like living, breathing creatures. The ones in the book of life are stick figures.
A group of kids are being herded to a museum for a field trip they have no interest in. Instead of being taken on the regular tour, a beautiful woman named Mary Beth (Applegate) takes them into a secret area. There, she tells them the story of two gods, La Muerte (del Castillo) and Xibalba (Perlman), and their wager. Xibalba is sick of being in the Land of the Forgotten, and wants to switch places with his lover, La Muerte, who oversees the Land of the Remembered. Xibalba suggests a wager over who rules over which place, and after seeing three young children play, he finds the perfect bet. Two boys, Manolo (Emil Bastian-Bouffard) and Joaquin (Elias Garza) and a girl, Maria (Genesis Ochoa) are best friends. Xibalba suggests that they bet which boy will marry Maria. La Muerte picks sensitive Manolo while Xibalba chooses the mighty Joaquin. Then a prank ends up with Maria sent to a Catholic school in Spain. Both boys promise to wait for her.
Cut to years later. Manolo (Luna) has become a bullfighter like the rest of his family, although he prefers playing music. Joaquin (Tatum) has become a war hero and the town's golden boy. That's when Maria (Saldana) comes back into town, and has to choose which man to marry. Through a series of events that include an invincibility-granting medal and a group of outlaws, Maria ends up dead, so Manolo too must die so he can go to the Land of the Remembered to rescue her.
For a children's movie, this is a plot heavy movie. Maybe that's the film's problem; it spends so much time unfolding the plot that there's no time to get to know the characters. I didn't care about anyone in this film, and that's a big problem.
The voice acting is also uninspired. No one really botches it, although Channing Tatum, who continues to mature as an actor with each performance, doesn't always feel comfortable in his character's skin. There is a time when his jokes feel awkward and forced. Everyone else is invisible, which I suppose is the point. The sad part is that they're all flat.
"The Book of Life" is not a bad movie. It takes chances and on its visual front, it's impressive (especially the scenes in the Land of the Remembered). Some of the humor also works, particularly when it pokes fun at itself. It's never uproarious, but occasionally amusing.
That's what this movie is like: lots of stuff going on, but not much heart or personality.
Starring (voices): Diego Luna, Zoe Saldana, Channing Tatum, Ron Perlman, Kate del Castillo, Hector Elizondo, Carlos Alazraqui, Christina Applegate, Ice Cube
Rated PG for Mild Action, Rude Humor, Some Thematic Elements and Brief Scary Images
Guillermo del Toro really wants "The Book of Life" to be just like something out of the Disney canon (the good ones from the early 90's). He and his director, Jorge R. Gutierrez, even borrow from the best of them, the most obvious being "Beauty and the Beast," "Aladdin" and "Hercules." Sadly, it doesn't really come together. The film definitely has its moments and gets points for spectacle, but it lacks the one thing that made the Disney greats so special: humanity. The characters in movies like "Beauty and the Beast" felt like living, breathing creatures. The ones in the book of life are stick figures.
A group of kids are being herded to a museum for a field trip they have no interest in. Instead of being taken on the regular tour, a beautiful woman named Mary Beth (Applegate) takes them into a secret area. There, she tells them the story of two gods, La Muerte (del Castillo) and Xibalba (Perlman), and their wager. Xibalba is sick of being in the Land of the Forgotten, and wants to switch places with his lover, La Muerte, who oversees the Land of the Remembered. Xibalba suggests a wager over who rules over which place, and after seeing three young children play, he finds the perfect bet. Two boys, Manolo (Emil Bastian-Bouffard) and Joaquin (Elias Garza) and a girl, Maria (Genesis Ochoa) are best friends. Xibalba suggests that they bet which boy will marry Maria. La Muerte picks sensitive Manolo while Xibalba chooses the mighty Joaquin. Then a prank ends up with Maria sent to a Catholic school in Spain. Both boys promise to wait for her.
Cut to years later. Manolo (Luna) has become a bullfighter like the rest of his family, although he prefers playing music. Joaquin (Tatum) has become a war hero and the town's golden boy. That's when Maria (Saldana) comes back into town, and has to choose which man to marry. Through a series of events that include an invincibility-granting medal and a group of outlaws, Maria ends up dead, so Manolo too must die so he can go to the Land of the Remembered to rescue her.
For a children's movie, this is a plot heavy movie. Maybe that's the film's problem; it spends so much time unfolding the plot that there's no time to get to know the characters. I didn't care about anyone in this film, and that's a big problem.
The voice acting is also uninspired. No one really botches it, although Channing Tatum, who continues to mature as an actor with each performance, doesn't always feel comfortable in his character's skin. There is a time when his jokes feel awkward and forced. Everyone else is invisible, which I suppose is the point. The sad part is that they're all flat.
"The Book of Life" is not a bad movie. It takes chances and on its visual front, it's impressive (especially the scenes in the Land of the Remembered). Some of the humor also works, particularly when it pokes fun at itself. It's never uproarious, but occasionally amusing.
That's what this movie is like: lots of stuff going on, but not much heart or personality.
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