Moviegoer Rating: ★★★
As a Latina, I’m a sucker for Latin American-inspired animated movies. I love seeing characters with experiences like mine and listening to music that reminds me of the melodies I heard growing up. I’ll be the first to watch anything like the Rio franchise, one of my favorites to date.
When I heard about Netflix and Sony Animation’s Vivo, I couldn’t wait to soak up more. The promise of music by Lin-Manuel Miranda added to my excitement. The film centers around adorable kinkajou Vivo (Don’t know what a kinkajou is? Turns out it’s a relative of the raccoon) who has grown up under the care of a kindhearted musician named Andrés. The two walk the streets of Havana, performing their music for all who will listen. When Andrés reveals that he never got to profess his love to his old music partner, Marta Sandoval, Vivo embarks on a journey to Miami with Andrés’ niece, Gabi, to deliver one last love song to Marta before her retirement concert.
From the very first scene, I had trouble piecing together Vivo’s character. Voiced by Lin-Manuel Miranda, no matter how much I tried to get my brain to blend the voice and the kinkajou, I couldn’t stop picturing Miranda. To me, Miranda is one of those people who might be doomed to the same fate as Daniel Radcliffe - forever associated with certain projects in the audience’s mind. Acute, animated creature like Vivo demands a voice that’s little more childlike and a little less deep. Lin’s voice is just not the right fit.
Certain elements of the story also lacked development. In particular, Vivo’s two bird friends Dancarino and Valentina fall in love in a hilarious but quick turn of events that left me wondering more about their story. Their friendship with Vivo also lacks time and emotional intrigue. When they end up helping Vivo during a crucial moment in his journey, the entire scene feels trivial because until this point we haven’t seen their friendship grow. It seems they are intended to be sidekick characters, but lack a strong storyline of their own.
For a movie about the importance of a song, that song--and the soundtrack as a whole--is anything but memorable. From someone of In The Heights and Hamilton fame, I had hoped for more from Lin-Manuel Miranda. I couldn’t help but wonder if he’s simply stretched too thin these days, with the recent release of the In The Heights movie, as well as upcoming projects like Disney’s Encanto, the live action The Little Mermaid, and the film adaptation of Tick, Tick…Boom!
Not everything about Vivo was lacking. The film is beautifully animated, especially the glowing neon scenes that take place inside Vivo’s imagination. Additionally, most of the movie takes place in Florida, and the sets made my home state seem like the most exciting place to visit. The depictions of serene Key West, the adventurous Everglades, and a towering Miami skyline made my Floridian heart soar.
Additionally, I was impressed by the amount of depth in the Vivo story. The writers and creators managed to imbue a fun, musical feature with tremendous meaning. The film discusses difficult topics like coping with grief and finding community with others who have experienced a loss in their lives. As someone who has grieved the loss of a family member, and who advocates for more-and accurate!-representation of grief in media, I was really happy to see this. Vivo goes beyond the typical dead parent backstory to truly discuss the complexities that grief can introduce in someone’s life. In particular, it deals with the difficult feelings one might experience when things are left unsaid between them and someone they love who has passed. In discussing these topics, Vivo finds that Pixar-like duality which offers lighthearted entertainment for children and thought-provoking content for adults, a difficult feat.
I appreciated the balance between vibrancy and depth in Vivo , but I expected more from the story and from Lin-Manuel Miranda’s music. Without a strong soundtrack and a believable main character, the movie was simply okay. I had hoped for something fabulous, but was left with a film that was mediocre at best.
Vivo is now available on Netflix.
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