The Book of Life

It has beautiful artwork and a world that's very seldomly, if ever, explored by Hollywood, and for that it's worth something. But it also has ear-splittingly bad musical numbers, an annoying and unnecessary framing device, a formulaic story, and characters who never grow or evolve past their archetypes.

The characters and story are unimpressive--as are many of the musical numbers--but suffice it to say that the vibrant, dreamlike, and Latin-inspired visuals are anything but.

Absolutely stunningly beautiful, and I definitely enjoyed the focus on Mexican mythology. However, the framing device was awful, the anachronisms (particularly the Radiohead song) were jarring and completely unnecessary, and Ice Cube couldn't have been a worse casting if they'd tried. It was also absolutely full of narrative cliches - too many for me to forgive. Basically, there was just way too much emphasis on modernizing the story, when it really didn't need it.

I absolutely loved the design of the world and characters - it's great to see Mexican culture in a film like this. The lead characters still feel a bit bland and plucked from other animated movies, and the story is a little safe and generic. The direction was a little too manic and fast-paced for me, too - like they desperately want to keep kids' attentions. Other than that, I enjoyed it. It has a unique and creative look, some nice humour and a good message.

A case of style over substance. Every frame of this movie positively bleeds gorgeous Latin visuals, and the sets and character designs are whimsical and endearing. Alas, the plot is stuffed full of cliches, and while its all very cute, none of it resonated with me beyond validating more use of eye candy.

Very cute, and well-meaning. Enjoyable and colorful.

I like big hats and I cannot lie, I forgot most of the rest of this movie

Nothing more than eye candy.

It looks an absolute dream - the animation is among the most beautiful and colourful I've seen - but the substance didn't really work for me. It doesn't help that I'm not particularly interested in Mexican mythology, but the jumble of stories and themes never quite coalesced for me. Definitely a labour of love from its creators, but it didn't really prove a fun viewing experience for me.

Lovely film

The animation is great, the rest...not so much.

Flawed, but more genuine than its rich cousin 'Coco'.

Great animation/art, but the story is slow and uninteresting, while the music is mostly blah.

Decent, but pretty forgettable. Cute for kids.

This book was a page turner. I really enjoyed The Book of Life, I thought that the mythology was really cool (it sort of reminded me of Disney's Hercules). I even like the framing device of having the story told to some bad detention kids on a field trip to a museum. This also had a Moulin Rouge feel to it as they took modern songs and added them to the story with their own little twists to them...

First off let me just say that I only rated it this high because I watched with my wife and she enjoyed it. I thought that the story was pretty generic and lacked depth, also I was annoyed by all of the cliches. I didn't mind the songs too much, kind of fun and not too long. But the thing I disliked the most was the animation style, I'm not a fan of the new weird Nick Toons animation style and I've never been a fan of puppets and mixing the two together didn't help the movie any.

#16#, exp3, rw3, story, ratings, (cast)

It's like a Mexican version of "The Nightmare Before Christmas" with gaudy color combinations and Mexican folklore instead of it's own made up kind. The character design is impressive, they all look like wooden marionettes, and after about a half hour of mulling around in some mediocre beginning, the fantasy elements take over and it actually becomes quite fun.

This is a visually unique animated film, which is it's strong point. It is sort of like watching a cartoon that has been made into CG 3D, very good use of bright and vibrant colours and lots of little details add to the film. The story is fine, a little generic/heavy handed on morals, it is an overall enjoyable film for adults that I think kids would also enjoy.

Absolutely beautiful but there's not much else to it. That being said, I'm sure kids would love it.

It's unfortunate that the script is predictable, full of corny (even for kids) jokes, and lackluster musical numbers based on pop songs, because it's otherwise a refreshing [Mexican] perspective on heaven/hell, life/death. It urges community values, individuality, and the importance of being remembered in your life, rather than typical good/evil story dynamics. The animation is also refreshingly unique, but the psychedelic fore- and back-ground color palette can make you cross-eyed.

Colorful and heartfelt--a labor of love, clearly. It's no super great shakes as a movie, though. Sort of a jumble of ideas--some effective, some frenetic, some glaringly obvious--and it never really coheres or exhilarates like it should. Seems like it strains pretty hard to make it to an hour and a half, to boot. A few good moments here and there, but overall a little on the meh side.

a really pleasant film with a new twist on an old story. it felt really authentic, and as a result captivating, especially in terms of how developed the world was. utilizing the mexican folklore was definitely a smart move, because it put a really fresh spin on the film's story and made it an interesting watch, even for adult viewers. it wasn't perfect - the stereotypically black candlemaker was probably the lowpoint of the film, but regardless, it was fun, festive and a good watch.

beautiful and original artwork

Pretty severely overrated, though I could have been in the wrong mood while watching it. I just had a lot of minor nitpicks that piled up and really ruined my experience. For example, the framing device of children being told the story was annoying and ruined the more serious tone of the movie's best scenes. I also was not a fan of most of the characters, although I enjoyed that the God of the Underworld was characterized as not evil, just a bit of a dick. Beautiful movie, but insubstantial.

Charming animation, entertaining songs and music, and heartfelt sentimentality throughout. The Book of Life is reminiscent of Disney's 'Hercules' in that the mythology presented is amalgamated fiction. My major qualm with this film lies with the main characters, who have been colloquialised to the point they feel slightly out of place in their world, particularly the character of Maria. Additionally the narration seemed benign, though it doesn't detract from what is a rather pleasant film.

A beautifully animated adventure that is bursting with colour and...well...life. The story is kinda stereotypical, but it has a charming love story, funny voice acting and a great soundtrack with a mix of original and pop songs. Does justice to the day of the dead folk tales and looks great with the mix of CGI and traditional animation.

The film sets up this ghostly reunion day--featuring altars and prayers for the dead, multiple afterlife worlds, wagering overlords and a godlike Candle Maker--as something light, cheery and playful. But in the real world, it's a pagan pageant (occasionally fused with bits of Catholicism) that's still earnestly practiced, and not just in Mexico. It's a celebration that promotes communion with (and in some cases even worship of) the dead--practices repeatedly and roundly condemned in the Bible.

Takes chances in the beginning, but takes none by the end. The co-opted music is really awkward, especially "Creep," but it's overall charm, sentiment and freshness makes it a winner.

Loved the art direction... very refreshing! Still, the story lacked cohesion and integration (and was a bit predictable and VERY fast-paced). Also, the musical numbers just felt sort of thrown into the story and I think were too poppy/over-the-top to do the songs justice. But I am also not a kid, so perhaps the young'uns would like this film more.

2015.2.8

I really liked the visuals of this movie and sort of think the story is not bad, it has some good ideas there, but it's not really well executed. I really felt the movie was afraid of silence or pause, everything is quick and you never have a break, it has an exhausting pace. Music (that should be very important giving the story) was good on the score side, but horrible and sort of a joke at songs (just one exception), full of Mexican versions of USA/UK pop that felt totally out of place.

Thematically, very creative. The story was simple and sweet.

It's always a good thing to have a distinct authorial voice in the realm of PG animation, and at the very least this film has that going for it. The design of the film, influenced by Mexican folklore, puppetry and "Day of the Dead" iconography, is very cool indeed. The story and the writing unfortunately leave a lot to be desired, and there are some rather awful musical moments (a flamenco version of "Creep"?), but the visual style makes up for some of that. Nothing exceptional, but nice enough.

Surprisingly not that crappy.

Has its issues no doubt, but lovingly crafted with moments of genuine quality.

Hayatımda seyrettiğim en çılgın animasyon. 2 arkadaş 1 kıza aşık olunca, Meksika perileri iddaa'ya girer. Kim kazanırsa Ölüler Diyarının sahibi olacaktır. Olay içinde olay örgüsü. Sıkmadan izleten kurgusu. Karakterlerin yapılışı. Enfes. Öykü çok masalsı olsa da, keyifle izletiyor. Ailecek izlenir. Korkunç tarafları da var. Sinsi Yılan. Filmin sonunda, Maria, Manolo'yu öpüyor. Tamam mı Devam mı? Kolesterol.

Beautiful visuals, intriguing characters, but such a simple story it's almost disappointing.

Talvez eu tivesse gostado mais se tivesse assistido antes de Coco. TV aberta.

Kids movie - the artwork/visuals were great.

Gorgeous animation, a cute (if a bit generic) story told in a straightforward manner while showing almost boundless imagination make "The Book of Life" a winner.

Colourful and frantic with an unHollywood feel that is a definite positive. Touches of humour and strong female roles, but it didn't entertain as much as I had hoped.

Endearing. Although the artwork tries so hard to be surreal and different, despite the rather banal plot, that it ends up being just the tiniest bit grating. Is that a scrotum on that guys face?

I tend to have a big problem with animation that I find aesthetically displeasing, and I found a lot of the animation in this to be downright ugly. It kind of drove a permanent wedge between me and the movie. That's too bad, because it's mostly a nice little animated flick ... although the hero does seem to be set up to learn a lesson about not having to resort to violence just before he kills the villain with lots of violence.

As formulaic as it seems, it still works because it explores a realm rarely visited by animation or films in general.

Fun in parts but it is one of those movies that feels exhausting - taking so much out of you to watch it without putting anything back in.

Such wonderful art work! Quirky, dark and colorful at the same time! And right in the middle of it all the most bland, empty and forcefully contemporary leads fighting against the environment set so perfectly. They really should have taken a step back let the scenery dictate the pace with it's near gothic theme. With that said it was a well executed safe story, enjoyable and fun, though one can't help but feel half the effort was wasted "to give the audience what they want".

really good animation

nice Radiohead cover :D

Amazing visuals with a very standard plot that were worth the price of admission, at least I didn't pay for my ticket, thanks Jeff.

Seen: 2. Inventive animation propping up an uninventive plot.