Vivo is great in spurts, but overall, a little underwhelming with my expectations!!!

Real Rating: 3.5 Screams from Vivo (or Lin-Manuel Miranda)

What I Like:

-The one thing that stuck to me the most is the animation, the way they bring out Havana, Cuba, to Key West, to the Everglades swamp, an then South Beach Miami, was all very stunningly designed and the color pallet was beautiful

-The voice acting was great, Lin-Manuel Miranda as the kinkajou, Vivo, was awesome with good raw emotion, and having Latin musical geniuses in Juan de Marcos Gonzalez and Gloria Estefan, added a touch of authenticity to the Latin culture, especially in the music

-The overall culture in this film really shows bright, with the old school Cuban city atmosphere, and the Latin-American culture you see in Florida today, especially the Gen Z culture which added a unique point of view, it really brings out the different Latin cultures, especially for Latin Caribbeans, for some true representations

The So So:

-I do appreciate the music for the most part, hearing the Latin conga drums and maracas really had me moving with joy, with that said, the one song that stayed in my head is the most annoying song which is “My Own Drum,” the beat is good, maybe that’s why it stays in my head, but the performance by Ynairaly Simo is what annoys me, maybe it will grow on me, and that’s what scares me

-Storywise, I enjoyed the beginning with Vivo and his partner, Andres, seeing the passion in their music and the turn of events that lead to Vivo to deliver the song to Marta in Miami and the way that whole ordeal happen in the end was really heartwarming and emotional, however, the middle part of the film to me was a little run by the numbers story which fell flat, and some scenes were a little too outrageous, I believed the middle part of the story could’ve been a lot better

What I Didn’t Like:

-The approach of this film seemed to be realistic with a touch of fantasy, but the way things go down, it all seemed illogical to me, especially in the middle part of the film, I could list them, but it will make me sound like the Cinema Sins guy, so I will let him do that

Overall:

I went into this film with high expectations. While the animation and voice casting was spot on, the Latin representation was there and the music was good for the most part, it still could’ve been better. It was mostly the story part where it did seem rushed, truly outrageous, and illogical. I felt it could’ve been written a lot better. Maybe I set way too high of expectations for this film, but as a Latin myself, I do expect this to be good and perfect. Maybe Encanto would do that in the near future. As for Lin-Manuel Miranda and his music, keep doing what you do best!!!

3.5 Screams from Vivo (or Lin-Manuel Miranda)