No, the title has nothing to do with the biblical use of the term. In fact, it relies heavily on Mayan mythology. Since I'd forgotten that Mexico's Day of the Dead actually lasts three days, I am in no position to evaluate the authenticity of the traditions depicted herein, but that matters little in an animated comedy.
We get a story within a story as a museum tour guide (Christina Applegate) tells a group of kids -- far more rapt than their early misbehavior would portend -- one legend straight out of the allegedly comprehensive Book of Life. Set in an ambiguous post-Columbian era, it concerns two gods wagering on human love. If María (Zoe Saldana) marries Joaquin (Channing Tatum), popular son of a war hero, then Xibalba (Ron Perlman), god of the hellish Land of the Forgotten, gets to swap places with La Muerte (Kate del Castillo), goddess of the much more pleasant Land of the Remembered. If María marries Joaquin's friend Manolo (Diego Luna), an aspiring mariachi whose father pushes him to be a matador, then Xibalba has to stop intervening in the realm of the living. Both boys/men do awesome things with their divine blessings over the years, but neither has the advantage in María's heart for very long; the main change is in how they feel about each other. At no point does either god fear that she'll marry neither, though.
As you might have guessed, Xibalba is the nastier god, though not nasty enough to make an outright villain out of his champion. Due to some unfair moves on Xibalba's part, Manolo dies about halfway through the movie. But Manolo strives to return to life, not just for María's sake but to help save their hometown from the true main villain, Chakal (Dan Navarro), a bandit leader too dangerous even for Joaquin. This being the Day of the Dead, the separation between life and death is more negotiable than usual....
The first thing to strike me about this movie was the character designs, some of which look more abstract than in pretty much any other animation, especially CG (and yes, it's been available in 3D). The internal story has something of an excuse, as the characters are supposed to resemble conventional Day of the Dead puppets in the exhibit; you can even see their vacant joints. But the "real" people at the museum can look just as bizarre. I guess Reel FX Creative Studios, which hasn't done much else yet, wants to distinguish itself from the bigger players somehow.
Early on, I was not terribly impressed. I had seen many such love triangles that take too long to go anywhere. The attempts at rapid-fire humor are at least as kiddie as in The Lego Movie. I found the various Mexican-style covers of relatively modern songs like Radiohead's "Creep" more jarring than funny. There are several morals to be found -- "You don't have to follow family tradition if it's at odds with your passion," "Killing bulls is wrong," and "Don't have sexist expectations of a girlfriend/wife" -- but only the first gets dealt with in depth; the last one might actually be undermined by María backing down from her fierce assertion of independence. At least there's a decent female lineup in the cast.
The second half appeals to me considerably more. The Land of the Remembered is both literally and figuratively colorful. (Wisely, the focus doesn't spend long in the Land of the Forgotten.) In the past, I've had trouble enjoying the visuals of family cartoons full of the walking dead, like Corpse Bride and ParaNorman, but here even the incomplete bodies don't look gross. Their personalities also slightly outshine the living minor characters' overall. And then there's the action: Manolo's obstacles become more spectacular -- video-game-like, even -- than mere bullfights, and no battle against Chakal could bore me.
A lot of recognizable talent, disproportionately of the Hispanic persuasion, went into the making of this film. Apart from the aforementioned voice actors, we have Carlos Alazraqui, Danny Trejo, Hector Elizondo, Plácido Domingo (yes, he sings), Gabriel Iglesias, Cheech Marin, and, um, Ice Cube. Plus a cameo by executive producer Guillermo del Toro, who no doubt knew what he was doing in casting Hellboy's actor as Xibalba.
Long before I knew much about TBoL, I suspected that it should have replaced The Boxtrolls as a Best Animated Feature nominee at the Oscars. I stand by that assessment. The primary production company (not its helper, 20th Century Fox) may not have a big name yet, but that didn't stop Cartoon Saloon from getting nominated twice. Granted, TBoL isn't on the same tier as those nominees, but I hope it gets the sequel or two that the director wants.
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