Laura S.

This movie made me cry! And I hardly ever cry during movies. It's so imaginative. It's sad, but hopeful. Watch it!

My unpopular opinion is that this film is really not the best. I just watched it for the first time, and I found it “eh.” I give it 2.5 stars. I enjoyed Maya and the Three on Netflix a LOT, so I had high hopes for this film that were unfortunately not met. Many enjoy this film, and that’s fantastic! It’s just clearly not for me! I think a lot of people like this film because they grew up with it and have great memories surrounding it. That’s cool. Here is my own review, as a 20-something woman. I’m not fond of the long-enduring love triangle trope, and this movie entirely revolves around it. Additionally, the characters are not always fleshed out well. Most of Manolo’s personality is that he loves Maria and guitar-playing. In my opinion, the most interesting thing about him is his relationship with his father. Maria, meanwhile, is presented merely as an object for Manolo and Joaquin to acquire. Maria herself seems to recognize this throughout the film, scoffing at how men treat her. The villain, Chakal, is extremely one-dimensional. Sometimes the music in this film took me out of it. It is mostly a jukebox musical. I was taken aback when Manolo started singing a song by Radiohead. There was only one song I liked, and it seems to have been made specifically for the film. The plot is extremely quick, jumping from scene to scene. The best thing about this film is the unique and colorful animation!

I went to see this with a group of friends and none of us liked it. We were all incredibly grossed out by the relationship between a 15 year old and 25 year old. Why couldn’t they have made the teenager AT LEAST 18? In addition, we were confused by a lot of the plot points. It was very disjointed. We thought it would focus on the 15 year old character’s acting career, which was introduced at the beginning, but he somehow ended up starting a waterbed business not very long into the movie. Things just seemed to get forgotten. A particular character at the very beginning was introduced (another teenager interested in dating the 25 year old… gross), and then he was forgotten completely. The movie was needlessly long. At a certain point, I was checking my phone’s clock, wondering when the movie would finally end. The 25 year old is so insecure that she jumps into any man’s arms… including a 15 year old kid’s arms. She needs some real help. A lot of the men in this film are disgusting. If that’s supposed to be funny, it’s not. Everything seemed needlessly sexual as well. At some points I was like, “Geez, calm down, people.” It felt gross. Especially the things between the 15 and 25 year olds. I am a young adult, and I have no nostalgia for the 70s, so the setting, clothes, trends, music, behaviors, etc. displayed in this movie did little for me. I also have no loyalty to the actors or creator of the film, so I am not biased in that way either. Don’t bother watching it.