Soul (2020) vs Coco (2017)

Another movie about a musician, whose family discourages them from pursuing music, ending up in the afterlife and asking existential questions will inevitably draw comparisons.

I really enjoyed Soul, but there are a few ways in which I feel like it's inferior to Coco.

• Miguel going to the afterlife by playing the legendary guitar from the deceased rockstar feels much better woven into the plot. Whereas Gardner falling into a hole feels random and forced just to introduce the afterlife earlier in the plot.
• Coco's afterlife was more vivid, colorful, and interconnected world. Soul's afterlife was mostly 4 distinct areas that never really felt like they connected together.
• Some of Soul's humor falls flat. Dated/corny jokes and references. And sometimes jokes are overdone (i.e. the wall street banker that destroys all of the computers, instead of a more subtle believeable epiphany).

A common criticism of Soul is that it doesn't represent black culture as well as Coco represented Mexican culture. But for me, it didn't need to do that to be a great film.

Soul worked best as a cooperation between depressed 2 human characters, both helping each other find meaning in their lives. One who is jaded with life and stuck in a rut of old ideas. The other with a lot of novel ideas, but anxiety is holding back from living life. I can personally relate to both of those sides.


Does this have to be a film about culture? Can it just be a film about just being a human in general?


(I can see how some people's expectations are let down. They expected a movie about a black jazz musician, and instead 22 essentially became the main protagonist, with Joe's family and friends having just a minor role. But I personally love 22's character development and consider it the highlight of the film).

For a character that was designed to be unruly and unlikeable, I find 22 to be one of the most charismatic and interesting characters I've seen in an animated movie.