Here’s what The Book of Life and Coco have in common. They both take place in the land of the dead and that’s about it. Seriously it’s like saying The Little Mermaid and Finding Nemo are the same just because they have fish in it. I’ll be frank with you, I knew this would be better than Cars 3 even before watching it, and after watching it, I was not surprised that it was better.

The Land of the Dead is a great setting. The buildings look cool and the colors really pop out. The world building is also great because the movie does explain how this world works and it’s easy to understand quickly. Details like having your photo on your family’s ofrenda lets you visit the living, alebrijes acting as spirit animals, and the final death help build this world Pixar has created.

Miguel is a likable main character and you do support his dream of playing music. Hector is also a likeable character who has a great design and the animation on his body makes for really fun moments. To me Miguel and Hector are the real standouts in the cast and there’s a surprising connections between them. I think my main problem with the movie is the villain, Ernesto de la Cruz. First off, he’s another surprise villain (as if we didn’t have enough from Disney), and two it’s just a retread of the villain from Up (both protagonists idolize the antagonist).  I think Charles Muntz was better because he didn’t start off as evil but years of obsession have turned him evil, Ernesto was just greedy and was willing to murder Hector to get famous.

The songs are great but I think Remember Me is definitely the standout song and will get nominated or even win the Oscar for best song. There’s two reasons why Remember Me stands out to me. Not only because every version of the song is great but also because the song actually has importance in the plot. Spoilers from here: What was the most popular song Ernesto sung was originally a lullaby for Hector’s daughter Coco. At the end of the movie, Hector starts to disappear due to Coco starting to forget him so Miguel races back home and tries to play Remember Me to her great grandmother in order for Hector to not disappear. I think it’s very clever and leads to an emotional moment at the end.

Coco is definitely the best animated movie 2017 and a shoe-in at winning the Oscar for Best Animated Film this year.

Verdict:
+ Miguel and Hector
+ The land of the dead
+ The songs
– The villain

Score: A

Before I finish here’s my thoughts on Olaf’s Frozen Adventure. It’s cute but did it have to be 20 minutes long?! Either shorten the short or show it on TV. Though it was cool to hear John De Lancie aka Discord in it.

Let’s face it, considering the success of Marvel, the anticipation for the movie was low for me. But I saw it anyway because it’s cool to see Aquaman, Flash and Cyborg on the screen for the first time. Thank god, it also had a shorter running time.

I want to talk about the opening scene first since hey it is the opening of the movie of course. It starts off with Superman talking to some kids about is the S on his suit which stands for hope. It then cuts to after Superman’s death showing landmarks with his logo while “Everybody Knows” plays.  It’s a nice and tragic way to show how people reacted to his death. Is it just me or are the best parts of Zack Synder’s movies the opening credits?

Speaking of the best parts of movies. The best thing about Justice League is well the Justice League themselves. For a superhero movie like this I think the most important thing to get right is the heroes themselves. They all have variety in terms of powers and abilities, the actors were nicely picked and even the costumes look great too. Ben Affleck and Gal Gadot are still great as Batman and Wonder Woman. Aquaman was badass and funny and Cyborg was cool too though I see Cyborg more like a Teen Titan rather than a Justice League member. I think my favorite was the Flash. He’s awkward, funny, and the visual effects on his running are different from Quicksilver from Marvel. Even Superman was good in this even though he’s not in it that much. While the heroes do keep the film nicely together the villain however does not. Steppenwolf is just your generic destroy or concur the world or something like that I don’t care villain, he’s boring, he’s bland and who even knows who this guy is in the comic?

The story was clunky which honestly does not surprise me. Something about a cgi villain who was defeated by Amazons, Atlantians, humans and Green Lanturns (which was a nice touch) looking for three boxes that contain power or something. I also think the story was predictable because I knew that a villain would show up, Batman forms a team, Superman comes back to life, they fight and defeat the villain, The End. So yeah the story isn’t anything new. Fortunately the movie is a lot more lighthearted than the other DCEU movies. Sure it does look dark grey, but it has more light humor and is fun at times. I watched this with a full audience and a lot people were laughing at the jokes. It wasn’t Thor Ragnarok funny but it was a nice change of pace for DC. I remember people cheering when Superman showed up in his brightly colored suit at the end.

I am not sure whether this or Wonder Woman is better but there pretty neck to neck together. Justice League is proably the most fun of the DCEU movies and gives hope to the series.

Verdict:
+Lighthearted
+Opening
+The heroes themselves
-Clunky and predictable
-Steppenwolf

Score: B-

I’m Thor, you’re Thor? Well it hurt
Once again, this whole broadcast has been brought to you by sand! It’s everywhere!

Thor Ragnarok is the third and final Thor movie and Marvel Cinematic Universe movie of 2017. Thor 3 is the very first MCU movie to have a main female antagonist Hela, so I’ll talk about her first. It is refreshing to see a main female antagonist in the Marvel movie and Cate Blanchett put a lot of effort and ham to make this character enjoyable. Doug Walker said in his review of this movie that every green MCU villain (Loki, Vulture, and Hela) are the good ones and he’s kind of right.

Sakaar is a really cool location. I like the design, the use of colors, the music, the costumes, The Grandmaster and Valkyrior are good additions and Korg steals the show whenever he’s on screen. The Incredible Hulk also steals the show and I like that he actually speaks clearly when he’s green. Pretty much anything on Sakaar is great. It’s a way better setting than the desert or Svartalfheim.

The comedy in the movie is really funny.  I think the first joke that really made me laugh my ass off was when Thor returns to Asgard and finds Loki “disguised as Odin” watching a play on Loki’s death (I won’t give away who plays Loki). Thor greets “Odin” and Odin replies “Oh Shit”. The way Anthony Hopkins delivers that line is hilarious. I don’t want to mention any more jokes because 1. I don’t want to spoil them, 2. If I were to talk about these jokes this would take too much time. Also Doctor Strange’s scene was great, just check it out.

While the movie is funny it does lead to my main problem with the movie. When I first heard about Thor Ragnarok it said that it was going to be darker and edgier. I was thinking it would be kind of like the Gravity Falls episode Dipper and Mabel vs. the Future, mostly void of humor and setting up the finale. This problem mostly out of expectation than what we got. Thor 3 at least take risks in changing the status quo. Spoiler Warning from here on: Odin dies, Thor’s hammer is destroyed, Thor loses his eye, Asgard is destroyed, and worse of all Thor’s hair gets cut. Curse you Stan Lee cameo! There no oh his hammer is fixed or Odin comes back to life scenarios that fix the status quo, everything is changed and I really like the risks it took in the end.

This is definitely my favorite Thor movie and maybe my favorite Marvel movie of 2017. It’s one of the most fun and hilarious Marvel movies and a great conclusion to the Thor trilogy.

Verdict:
+Hela
+Sakaar
+Status quo change
+The humor
-Lack of dark tone

Score: A