THE BOOK OF LIFE (2014 - ANIMATED / COMEDY / FAMILY) ***1/2 out of ***** OR 7 out of 10
(Looks like Halloween, south of the border, is a hell of a lot more fun...)
CAST: Voices of Diego Luna, Zoe Saldana, Channing Tatum, Kate Del Castillo, Ron Perlman, Eugenio Derbez, Christina Applegate, Danny Trejo, Cheeh Marin, Hector Elizondo, Ice Cube, Ana De La Reguera, Hector Elizondo.
DIRECTOR: Jorge Gutierrez
(WARNING: Some SPOILERS and compelling reasons to go to Mexico for Halloween - straight ahead...)
IT'S LIKE THIS: Recently, we celebrated Halloween by reviewing 32 films throughout the month of October for our "31 DAYS OF HALLOWEEN" celebration. While the experience was fun, as was the culminating All Hallow's Eve party at which I cast a long, malefic shadow (ahem), it apparently is nothing compared to the celebrations of our brethren in Tijuana and all points due south. If our next review is any indication, then I'm spending next Halloween in Mexico, yo.
It's titled THE BOOK OF LIFE, and if you didn't know any better, you'd think this was the sequel to Terrence Malick's deep, profound, and utterly mind-fucking head-scratcher starring Brad Pitt and Jessica Chastain from a few years ago, THE TREE OF LIFE. In reality, though, THE BOOK OF LIFE has about as much in common with THE TREE OF LIFE, as Taylor Swift does with a discreet, sensible person who doesn't use her music to advertise her messy love life.
Our story opens with a group of kids on a field trip to some museum. Unfortunately, they happen to be the last group for the day, and the museum guide, Beth (Christina Applegate) must be tired or something because she takes the tykes to some Hispanic exhibit in the back of the museum, where she sits down and proceeds to read them a story from... "The Book Of Life." Ahem.
Anyhow, Beth spins the yarn of Manolo, Maria, and Joaquin (Diego Luna, Zoe Saldana, Channing Tatum) from centuries ago who lived in an idyllic little village smack-dab in the center of Mexico called San Angel. We first meet our trio of leads as young tykes themselves, celebrating "La Dia de las Muertes" with their families. To those of you not conversant in Spanish, that means... "The Day of the Dead..."
Ay, papi!
Well, fortunately, it's not as creepy as it sounds. Quite the opposite, actually... You see, in Mexico and other Hispanic cultures, La Dia de las Muertes is actually a positive thing. Think of it as Halloween meets Christmas, a time wherein families party down in remembrance of their dead loved ones. Unbeknownst to Manolo, Maria, and Joaquin, however, someone is watching their festivities. Actually, make that two someones...
They are La Muerte (Kate Del Castillo) and Xibaba (Ron Perlman). Apparently, these two are the rulers of the Underworld, and given how much they bicker it's probably a very good thing that the Underworld is divided into two layers: (1) The Land of the Remembered, which is a place that's like a never-ending Mardi Gras (except with skeletons and cadavers); and (2) The Land of the Forgotten, which is like the North Pole in the middle of an Ice Age - this place gives new meaning to the phrase "Dead Of Winter." Not to mention "Colder Than A Witch's Tit."
La Muerte rules over The Land of the Remembered (AKA PartyTown), where those departed who are lucky to have family and friends to mourn them boogie like their souls depend on it. Xibaba, on the other hand, rules The Land of the Forgotten (AKA ColdasfuckTown). And let's just say he wants to move to sunnier, funner climes, folks. I, for one, don't blame him...
Sure enough, after observing the interplay of the young Manolo, Maria, and Joaquin, Xibaba proposes a wager to La Muerte. Sensing that Manolo and Joaquin both love Maria, Xibaba bets that Joaquin will win her heart when they grow up. La Muerte, apparently not able to resist a bet, states that Manolo will be the one to score. Both agree that if either of them lose, that person will have to give up the particular part of the Underworld that belongs to them. In other words, if Joaquin bags Maria, then La Muerte will have to switch kingdoms with Xibaba and move out of PartyTown - and into ColdasfuckTown.
Flash forward about a dozen years or so later, and we find that our trio of tangled lovers have all grown up into teenagers. Manolo has become an even nicer human being. Maria has become an even more beautiful human being. And Joaquin has became even more of an utter douchebag. Anyone still wondering which of these two dudes will eventually land Maria needs to get a fucking clue or two. Or three.
Anyhow, things in San Angel take a turn for the dangerous when feared bandit Chato (Eugenio Derbez) begins threatening to attack the town. Or course, being a decorated military hero now (but still a thorough asshole), Joaquin rises to the occasion to defend the town - and impress Maria, who just returned from a long spell of study in Spain (the Mexico of Europe). Manolo, on the other hand, is trying to make it as a musician after years of denying his artistic urges. I don't have to tell you that the guy Maria would choose is not the same one her mom would want her to choose.
While this drama is all going on in San Angel, down in the Netherworld of Mexico (known in some circles as Acapulco's Red Light District, but I digress), La Muerte and Xibalba are eagerly awaiting to see who will beat Chato - and win the heart of Maria. Fucking immortals: always pitting us humans against each other like dogs at a racetrack. Did these two assholes taken notes from CLASH OF THE TITANS or something?
Whatever. So... who will be the one to vanquish Chato? Manolo? Or will it be Joaquin? Does Manolo have a chance in hell against a decorated war hero? And what happens when Manolo finds himself fatally tricked by Xibalba and dragged down to the Land of The Remembered? How can he fight for Maria's heart if he's, you know, dead? Will La Muerte step in somehow and help? Will Chato trump everyone? Who will still be around in San Angel to celebrate the next La Dia de las Muertes?
I know who: Speedy Gonzalez. And his little-known cousin, Slowpoke Rodriguez. Don't believe me? Look it up.
BUT SERIOUSLY: It's been a rich last couple of years for animated family films. Recently, we had such good-to-terrific films as BRAVE, FROZEN, HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON 2, MR. PEABODY & SHERMAN, RIO 2, THE NUT JOB, and BIG HERO SIX. Some of these films, like BRAVE, FROZEN, MR. PEABODY & SHERMAN, and BIG HERO SIX, have become instant modern classics. Others, like HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON 2, RIO 2, and THE NUT JOB, weren't quite classics, but were still good enough to qualify as solid entertainment.
Our latest review, the modestly delightful THE BOOK OF LIFE, falls into the latter category. It may not be as grand and dynamic as the films in the former group, but like the other films in its category, it has many decent assets of its own. The biggest one is the colorful, surreal atmosphere that permeates the "Land of the Remembered". This setting, with its vivid swirls and patterns and textures and festive skeletal denizens, is very reminiscent of Tim Burton films like THE NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS, BEETLEJUICE, and THE CORPSE BRIDE - but much, much more colorful and a little less sinister.
The voicework by Diego Luna, Zoe Saldana, Channing Tatum, Danny Trejo, Kate Del Castillo, Ron Perlman, Eugenio Derdez, Cheech Marin, and the rest of the cast is similarly competent and professional. However, one of the reasons THE BOOK OF LIFE doesn't quite reach the classic levels of BRAVE, FROZEN, MR. PEABODY & SHERMAN, and BIG HERO SIX, is that the characters, while all entertaining, don't quite soar. They're okay, but there's nothing particularly special or complex about them. It doesn't quite help that the love triangle at the center of the story is fairly obvious and lopsided. Nevertheless, Luna, Saldana, Tatum, and company keep audience interest with their solid work.
The main reason that THE BOOK OF LIFE rates as a solidly-good film despite its sometimes nondescript characters is because it covers some unique and original territory. I don't think there's been an animated film that has quite explored the Hispanic tradition of the "Day of the Dead." It's nice to see the Mexican culture also portrayed in such warm, sunny, and innocent circumstances, considering the grim stories filtering from south of the border about kidnappings, crime, drug cartels and the like. THE BOOK OF LIFE celebrates a Mexico that is untarnished by these unfortunately modern realities.
The thing I love the most about this film, though, is it's low key message that our loved ones who pass on don't really die - as long as we remember them and tell stories about them. The idea that folklore of the familial kind can keep one's spirit alive even after death, is a terrific one. Had the creators of THE BOOK OF LIFE really developed this aspect of the story, it would've significantly increased our emotional investment in the characters, and it would have likely become a modern classic like BRAVE, FROZEN, BIG HERO SIX, and MR. PEABODY & SHERMAN. As it is, though, it still a film worthy of being called "good."
Sometimes, that's all you can hope for.
