On the Day of the Dead, a group of children visit a museum to learn more about the holiday. Their tour guide takes them underground to teach them about the holiday. She tells them that there are two gods: La Muerte and Xibalba. La Muerte is the ruler of the Land of the Remembered and Xibalba is the ruler of the Land of the Forgottern. She then tells them a story from the Book of Life. In this story, which is enacted with wooden dolls, there are three best friends which are completely inseparable: Manolo, Joaquin, and Maria. The three of them live and play together in the town of San Angel. Manolo comes from a family of matadors, but his true passion is music. Joaquin comes from a family of soldiers. Both boys are in love with Maria. On the Day of the Dead, La Muerte, disguised as an old woman, asks Manolo for some bread. He gladly gives it up, saying it's what his mother would want. In exchange, she gives Manolo's family a blessing. Later, Xibalba, disguised as a strange man, asks the same of Joaquin. He refuses until Xibalba offers him the Pin of Everlasting Life. Joaquin gladly accepts. Shortly after, Xibalba bets La Muerte that Maria will marry Joaquin. The winner will become ruler of the Land of the Remembered. However, the next day Maria sets a bunch of pigs loose in the town in an attempt to save their lives from the butcher. Because of this, she is sent to boarding school in Spain.
By the time Maria returns to San Angel, Manolo is a skilled bullfighter and Joaquin, with the help of the Pin of Everlasting Life, is the town hero. Both men are still madly in love with her. Manolo fights a bull and when it comes time to finish the bull, he refuses. Maria admires his compassion. Joaquin throws a party and proposes to Maria. Maria's father urges her to marry Joaquin so he can take care of her. She doesn't give Joaquin an answer. That night, Manolo serenades Maria underneath her balcony. Later, Manolo and Maria meet together but Xibalba's rattlesnake shows up and bites Maria. She dies immediately. Wanting to be with his love, Manolo allows the rattlesnake to bite him twice. When he arrives in the Land of the Remembered, Maria is nowhere to be found. In a Shakespearean turn of events, Maria had merely been in a deep sleep. One kiss from Joaquin, and the Pin of Everlasting Life, wakes her up instantly. But Manolo is still stuck in the Land of the Remembered. This leads him on a quest through the afterlife where he must face his biggest fears in order to be reunited with his love.
The Book of Life is director Jorge R. Gutierrez's first feature length film. It was produced by Guillermo del Toro (Pan's Labrinth, Pacific Rim) and features the voices of Diego Luna as Manolo, Channing Tatum as Joquin, and Zoe Saldana as Maria. It also features Ron Perlman, Christina Applegate, Danny Trejo, Ice Cube, Cheech Marin, and Gabriel Iglesias. The music was fantastic. It featured mariachi versions of popular songs such as "I Will Wait," "Just a Friend," and "I Can't Help Falling in Love." The art design and animation were absolutely stunning. An Academy Award nomination for Best Production Design wouldn't be surprising in the least bit.
3/5 Visually outstanding and very fun.
No comments:
Post a Comment