The Book of Life stays true to its name in that it is full of life, excitement, and color. In fact, the animation style is so beautiful and so unique that it's hard to really soak in the plot because you keep getting distracted by the brilliant colors and textures of everything around you.
The film is set in Mexico and centers on three characters: Manolo (Diego Luna), Maria (Zoe Saldana), and Joaquin (Channing Tatum), three kids that grow up together, each with different aspirations. Manolo loves singing, but his dad wants him to join the family tradition and become a bullfighter. Maria's good heart gets her into trouble because she's willing to go to any lengths to set things right. Joaquin just wants to be a brave and excellent soldier like his legendary father. As they grow, it becomes clear that Manolo and Joaquin both like Maria, and the two good-naturedly fight about it until Maria is sent off to school in Spain. When Maria returns as a young adult, Manolo has grown into a brilliant but begrudging bullfighter, and Joaquin has grown into mythical and brave soldier. As the two battle to win Maria's heart, the three must battle to save their small town from bandits.
Weaved within this story is the legend of the Dia de los Muertos or Day of the Dead. In Mexico, Dia de los Muertos is a holiday where families gather and remember the dead. Often families will honor the deceased by leaving sugar skulls, marigolds, and the favorite foods of the deceased at their graves. It's believed that as long as the dead are remembered, they will live on forever in the minds of their loved ones. In the film, this translates to three realms: the land of the living, the land of the remembered (presided over by La Muerte), and the land of the forgotten (presided over by Xibalba). When the meddling of La Muerte and Xibalba result in catastrophe, Manolo must travel to the three realms to save Maria and save the town.
It's a good thing that the beautiful animation distracts from the plot. The plot, taken by itself, is nothing special. While sweet throughout, it can't help itself from getting a bit schmaltzy, especially when you add in Manolo's renditions of songs by Radiohead, Rod Stewart, and Mumford & Sons among others. But at the end of the day, it's hard to fault a kid's movie for advocating that everyone should follow his or her heart and always do what's right. On top of that, the whole film is imbued with a mythical storybook air, helped in no small part by its vibrant animation.
To emphasize this storybook aesthetic, the characters and backdrops all look practically handmade, and each character looks like a wooden puppet. The land of the living is full of warm tones while the land of the remembered is all neon and bright colors and even its skeleton inhabitants have intricate and colorful inlays contrasting against their white bones, mirroring the popular sugar skulls popular in the Mexican holiday. Meanwhile the land of the forgotten is flat and grey, with its forgotten inhabitants quickly turning into ash.
While The Book of Life didn't have me laughing like some Pixar films or wrapped up in action like How to Train Your Dragon, it's a sweet familial tale with stunning visuals perfect for children and their families to enjoy together.
