A Wrinkle in Time

DISCLAIMER: This blog is not for profit. I do not claim ownership of this material - all images and footage used are property of their respective companies unless stated otherwise.

Whilst there's a lot to enjoy in A Wrinkle in Time, its poor plotting means that it comes across as confused overall. The film is very well intentioned: it has a beautiful message about loving yourself and all of the actors do a fantastic job of bringing that message to life. Another commendable aspect is the visual effects, although on a technical level the camera angles could've shown off the great effects in more detail.

Unfortunately, it also fails at balancing both Science Fiction and Fantasy, as it makes missteps on paths which are crucial to both genres. The story is first set up to be sceince based, but they only explain the science of the plot very briefly, making much of the later story hard to swallow as the audience lacks understanding of how this is all happening in the first place. Similarly, Fantasy only really works when you set it in a world with its own rules and they make little to no effort to explain the inner workings of the films' universe, again meaning that later events lack impact, simply due to a lack of understanding from the audience. The exposition-heavy dialogue towards the beginning of the film also comes across as clunky, which really doesn't help.

Overall, A Wrinkle in Time has good enough acting, visuals and story to be entertaining and it has a beautiful message at its core, but the lack of attention to detail in the script make it far from perfect.

Coco

DISCLAIMER: This blog is not for profit. I do not claim ownership of this material- all images and footage used are property of their respective companies unless stated otherwise.

           

The thing about Pixar that they (almost) always serve up a perfect cocktail of emotion and comedy. Whilst their latest offering Coco is lighter on the comedic side, the jokes present all land really well- and as for the emotional side of the story, it’s as tear-jerking as Sulley saying goodbye to Boo or even the infamous opening of ‘Up’. Yeah, it's that good.

To summarise, Coco is about a young boy in Mexico named Miguel, an aspiring musician in a family who have banned music entirely. He ends up travelling to the land of the dead on the Day of the Dead and has to try and return home. More stuff happens, but it’s one of those films where it’s better if you experience it for yourself. The plot can be a bit derivative of other Pixar movies at times, with storyline having some strong similarities to Up, Monsters Inc and Inside Out at various points- but it’s a formula that definitely works, especially within the context of this story. As I said before, where the film really shines is the emotional side of things, as overall it is a beautiful story about memory and the importance of family. This is also helped by just how likable almost all the characters are, as this increases the emotional investment in the story.

The animation is also just as great as you would expect from Pixar at this point and as a setting the Land of the Dead is filled to the brim with lots of clever little details and funny jokes. Additionally, in spite of it not technically being a musical, the songs of the story are used wonderfully, with the various reprises of ‘Remember Me’ (the best song in the film by the way) adding new emotional weight to the story every time it is sung.

This film is Pixar at their best- it showcases everything that has made them the giants of animation that they are today- and that should say it all.