While I have to admit I'm not exactly the greatest Jorge R. Gutierrez fan (In fact, I strongly disliked his series "El Tigre: The Adventures of Manny Rivera") I found "The Book of Life" to be a pretty enjoyable flick, with very good animation (The art style of Jorge R. Gutierrez looks surprisingly good in the CGI format, with stylish designs and impressively detailed sceneries.) likable characters and a fun story which balances very well the comedy, romance and adventure.
The musical aspect was quite good too. Against what I was expecting, the use of modern songs was moderate, and each one of the musical moments this movie has serves in some way or another for the plot and character development, with more than effective results. This aspect, combined with all the other positive qualities this movie has serve to make it a very good animated film for the whole family.
There is too much to like about "The Book of Life". For me, it was definitely a pleasant surprise, and while I'm not entirely sure to consider this the best animated film of the year 2014, it is definitely a strong contender for that category, along with "The Lego Movie" and "How to Train your Dragon 2". Definitely worth- watching.
9/10
The musical aspect was quite good too. Against what I was expecting, the use of modern songs was moderate, and each one of the musical moments this movie has serves in some way or another for the plot and character development, with more than effective results. This aspect, combined with all the other positive qualities this movie has serve to make it a very good animated film for the whole family.
There is too much to like about "The Book of Life". For me, it was definitely a pleasant surprise, and while I'm not entirely sure to consider this the best animated film of the year 2014, it is definitely a strong contender for that category, along with "The Lego Movie" and "How to Train your Dragon 2". Definitely worth- watching.
9/10