Combining incredible depth of field with a festive Mexican aesthetic, The Book of Life is a gorgeous, vivid, wholly unique mythological adventure that includes a heroic quest through the realms of the dead. In the story within the story, the characters are all patterned on marionettes, articulated and made of wood, though still warm and more human than most pixelated creations. Produced by Guillermo del Toro, Gutierrez and his team create a cinematic world with a totally unique look that has more in common with bizarro Saturday morning cartoons than you average modern animated feature. This is where the film distinguishes itself from any other animated work out there, in rendering San Angel and lands of the dead. From here, the viewer dives into the magical world of San Angel, where the three heroes live, and where a wager between La Muerta (Kate del Castillo) and her mischievous husband, Xibalba (Ron Perlman)-rulers of the Land of the Remembered and the Land of the Forgotten, respectively-about the outcome of the budding romance, will have a massive impact on three different realms.

Not the kind of students who usually dig this kind of educational adventure, the tour guide takes them to a back room and tells them a special story about the Day of the Dead, Mexico’s annual celebration of those who are no longer with us.

This primary narrative thread is framed within a larger story about so-called “detention kids” on a field trip to a museum. That may not sound particularly interesting, but the characters are strong and charming enough that one don’t mind that this is a story we’ve seen before, and fortunately for everyone involved, almost every other element is incredible. It’s obvious which one should get the girl and how things are going to pan out, with all of the usual roadblocks standing in the lovers’ way, as well as some that come from way out in left field. The core of the story of The Book of Life revolves around your basic love triangle, where lifelong friends, Manolo (Diego Luna) and Joaquin (Channing Tatum), compete for the hand of their other childhood friend, Maria (Zoe Saldana). And to be honest, there aren’t enough children’s movies about death, let alone ones that deal with it as positively as this one. Fortunately for the viewer, one totally supersedes the other, and the end result is a stunningly beautiful movie with a story that, while not particularly original, could be much, much worse, and has enough going on at the periphery that it is still interesting. Gutierrez’ The Book of Life is simultaneously wildly inventive and totally familiar, which are the film’s greatest strengths and weaknesses, respectively. As far as animated kid’s movies go, Jorge R.

The book of life movie