So I actually left my dorm yesterday to do something other than party and get food XD Went to the moviesssssss!!!!! Saw Big Hero 6 yesterday, The Book of Life today and Big Hero 6 (again) today :3 Imma do a little review for both of them just because I'm an animation student now and am supposed to be critiquing everything lol (sorry for crap sketch by the way haha)

SPOILERS!!!!!!!!

 K, so… This movie was “meh” for me. I really wanted to like it more but there were just so many issues I found in it that bothered me.  First of all, let me just say that the art style was BEAUTIFUL.  Incredibly stunning visuals and a very original style. When first seeing the previews I immediately knew it was the same artists that worked on El Tigre.  The characters were designed rather well and the wooden texture worked very well for all the characters. It really did justice to the Mexican culture. The problem I had was that all this stuff was amazing, but the cuts throughout the movie were so awkward and it didn’t really give the viewer time to take in the scenery and get a feel for the entire scene.  This made it seem like there were some continuity errors between the cuts and made you guess where the characters were. I just really think they should have slowed down a little bit so we as viewers could really appreciate all the work they put in because REALLY guys... it was beautiful.

 That was another issue.  The timing and pacing. Events would just happen to quickly and I felt like several things were left unexplained.  There was a little too much exposition in my opinion.  Within the first half an hour, we knew all the characters, we knew exactly what they were about, their motives and ultimately predict what would happen in the end.  There was a lot of back and forth that happened in the middle making it somewhat repetitive.  The movie didn’t really leave me wondering what was gonna happen but left me wondering when things were going to resolve. The ending seemed a bit rushed and the antagonist felt forced. There was some mention of the antagonist at the beginning but then by the middle, I forgot about him just because the story was so heavily focused on the two main characters, their issues and the romance.  Of course when the villain was actually shown, I remembered that he was a thing haha. But he was just kinda there.  Even when the battle came, what he was doing just seemed so... insignificant and the focus was on the many secondary characters that were introduced in the middle of the movie.  This pacing was probably due to them having so much to cover but not enough time to do so.  I really do love the concept and the story itself, but it all just happened too fast and it was VERY predictable.

 Like I said earlier, I do like the character designs a lot but some of them just began to look the same in terms of silhouettes.  Especially with the two main characters.  Broad shoulders, big arms, small legs.  For the girls it was long wavy hair, curvy body and large head and eyes.  Now, I’m not sure if it was supposed to be like that.... sort of conventionalized (I guess you could say) and supposed to be a representation of Mexican art (sorry, haven’t studied Mexico yet in art history).  My favorite character design though, was the candle maker.  I felt like there was just so much more detail put into his movements. This probably was because he was supposed to be made of wax and have more fluid motion.  I think this worked and it made a nice contrast between him and the other characters.

The worst part of the movie for me was how heavily focused on romance it was.  I don’t have an issue with romance at all but I think it took away from the potential of the movie.  The movie was about two best friends fighting over the same girl.  I get that BUT I felt like the bigger message in the story was supposed to be “be yourself, follow your heart and write your own story”(a bit cliché but that’s what it was).  This is a good message but I really think it was overshadowed by all the romance that was happening. Another thing that bothered me was that the girl, Maria, seemed like such an independent woman and a feminist, yet in some scenes, she seemed like she wanted a husband so badly and the fact that she married so quickly made it worse.  I dunno, that’s just how it read to me.  And although I did enjoy a lot of the characters, I didn’t really sympathize with them at all.  I’m such an emotional person when it come to movies and usually cry my eyes out at little things but this didn’t make me cry at all. It was probably due to the fact that the pacing was so fast and I didn’t have enough time to take in the weight of what had happened

Despite all of this, I did enjoy the movie just because the art itself was pleasing to look at (Though at the end, it felt so empty. It’s like the background disappeared and everything just seemed flat). The character designs were nice and the humor had its shining moments.  It really helped me, and I’m sure others, understand Mexican culture and the Day of the Dead much more.  Like I said, the movie did Mexican culture justice. The story had so much potential but time got the best of it. Would I recommend this movie to anyone? Mmmmmmmmmmmmmm.... maybeeee. I mean, I’m not sure if I was just overthinking the whole thing as an animation student and I’m not sure if many people would pick up on the things I did or not. However, I would totally recommend it if the art style appeals to you

I always feel horrible critiquing stuff professionals have done because I know I couldn’t do any better XD  This is just my opinion though! I know a lot of people liked it

Anyways! If you saw the movie and DID like it, tell me what you liked about it other than the things I’ve said.  Maybe all I need is a different perspective haha