This is a 2014 animated movie stars the voices of Diego Luna, Zoe Saldana, Channing Tatum, Christina Applegate, Ice Cube, Ron Perlman, Kate del Castillo, Héctor Elizondo and Dan Navarro. It was produced on a budget $50m and went on to double its money making $99.8m. The Tri-Critic Sync Challenge is close but not enough to bring it on the score board with a 9 point difference which I am going to call as too much I think I am going to draw the score board line at 7 points and lower. This was a 9 because I gave it 76% and IMDb didn’t like it as much giving it a 7.3/10. Now this is the point you have to guess which way Rotten Tomatoes went with this non-Disney movie and you were wrong as it gave this movie a creditable 82%. See told you this was all in my mind! This could be a tricky plot to follow.
This is a story told by a museum guide to a group of children on a detention with a secret museum tour, they are told using wooden figures. They hear the story about a Mexican town called San Angel from the Book of Life which holds every story in the world. On the Day of the Dead the ruler of the Land of the Remembered and the ruler of the Land of the Forgotten see two men competing for a lady and strike a wager. With the two men Manolo Sánchez and Joaquín Mondragon with their love Maria Posada, so they bet on who will marry Maria. If Manolo wins then Xibalba (Forgotten Lord) will no longer interfere in mortal affairs, whilst if she marries Joaquín then La Muerte (Remembered Lord) then Xibalba will swamp realms. BUT!! Xibalba cheats and gives Joaquín his medal of Everlasting Life which makes the wearer invincibility. Maria is sent away but returns years later to find that Joaquín has become a hero with the medal’s aid whilst Manolo musical plans have been suppressed by his father who wants him to train to be a bullfighter. In his first fight he wins but refuses to kill the bull angering dad and the crowd but it does impress Maria. Maria’s father and mayor pressure her to marry the bad Joaquín but she is falling for Manolo and vice versa and not interested that Joaquín keep the village safe from the bandit king Chakal. Xibalba sends a dual-headed snake that bites Maria and sends her into a coma but Manolo believes her dead and allows Xibalba to kill him so he can be reunited with his love in death. So how is all this story going to work out with the hero dead and his love left in a coma to be awoken but the worst possible option. This is called the Book Of Life for a reason and in the Land of the Remembered Manolo reunites with his mother and ancestral family they go to the Lord who is Xibalba who explains what he has done with the two headed snake and he was bitten twice and Maria once so she is not dead. Now Manolo must find a way to return to the Land of Living and win his girl back all before she marries that ‘orid Joaquín chap.
So, this is a story of God like Lords and Ladies, death, life, love, deception and kids in museum. This movie literally has everything! Unlike another recent review this movie is in the right place as this is a lovely story of love triumphing over treachery, lies and evil. This is a nice story about the land of the dead and is not scary or that nasty but grand. I would assume this is based on an old Mexican folk story from yesteryear and this is a fun interpretation of that story. Told in a clever animated way this movie just worked for me. I enjoyed it and I am going to go out on a limb and say so will you if you give it the same chance that I did of watching it with a free open mind.
Enjoy!
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