Reviews & Ratings for
The Book of Life (2014)

The Book of Life is adequate in my book. While Jorge R. Gutierrez's style shines throughout, being his labour of love and all, the problem is that it's muddled. It's infested by needless narration and comic relief that doesn't work too well, and its music could have been not only original but better all around - it attempts at being a Mexican Moulin Rouge with all-too-familiar choices for musical covers, like the work of Elvis. The climax is the least inspired of it all, with a battle scene that mixes every CG cliché imaginable.

But despite of these flaws, Gutierrez did put his heart and soul into this project, so I can respect that. With all this invention to spare, it didn't disappoint or insult me quite as much as other CG films that would fall into the "style over substance" category, like Sony's Hotel Transylvania or Cloudy 2. While Carmen Got Expelled looked like it could have been a better way to follow up El Tigre, and Lee Unkrich could have captured the spirit of the Day of the Dead far better, The Book of Life, problematic as it is, is acceptable enough to make up for Free Birds. There's just so many animated films out there without a remarkable style that boast more believable storytelling.

I absolutely adored The Book of Life. The animation is amazing and looks so different than anything else, which is why I loved it. The characters all look like segmented wooden puppets. There is a riot of bright colors, especially when Manolo travels to the Land of Remembrance.

The story, while having the familiar trope of two guys in love with the same girl, has several fresh elements. They are probably Mexican folk lore tropes, but they're fresh to me.

The only weird off note element was the selection of some of the modern songs for Manolo to sing. Creep? Really?