What’s It About
An animated musical adventure featuring all-new songs written and performed by Hamilton creator Lin-Manuel Miranda, Vivo follows a one-of-kind kinkajou (aka a rainforest “honey bear”), who spends his days playing music to the crowds in a lively Havana square with his beloved owner Andrés. Though they may not speak the same language, Vivo and Andrés are the perfect duo through their common love of music. But when tragedy strikes shortly after Andrés receives a letter from the famous Marta Sandoval, inviting her old partner to her farewell concert in Miami with the hope of reconnecting, it’s up to Vivo to deliver a message that Andrés never could: a love letter to Marta, written long ago, in the form of a song. Yet in order to get to the distant shores of Miami, Vivo will need to accept the help of Gabi – an energetic tween who bounces to the beat of her own offbeat drum. Vivo is an exhilarating story about gathering your courage, finding family in unlikely friends, and the belief that music can open you to new worlds.
MOVIESinMO REVIEW
If you’ve ever watched a movie and thought to yourself, “it’s good, but I feel like something’s missing.” That’s the way you feel for the entirety of Vivo. The film is filled with original songs by Lin-Manuel Miranda, and if you’re familiar with his work, you already know how they sound. He has a very distinct sound and style. It doesn’t matter who’s singing, you know Miranda wrote it. The movie opens with a complete introduction, explanation, and understanding of who Vivo, a kinkajou, is, where he’s from, how he got where he is, and everything it takes to get us up to his current situation in Havana, Cuba. Andrés, Vivo’s owner, would take his performing pet to the plaza and, from what was shown, was his only form of income. Once Andrés receives a letter from his old singer partner Marta, he decides to visit her in Florida and profess the love he always had for her. As stated earlier, it feels like something is missing. It’s also apparent the writers saw the Pixar movie Up, but maybe I’m reading too much into certain scenes. Further in the film, Vivo ends up with Andrés’ niece-in-law Rosa and her daughter Gabriela in Florida. Unnecessary antics take place running through the city, the Everglades, and finally, a venue where Marta was performing. The journey along the way is filled with songs, but the story seemed half-done in some scenes while other parts only existed to set up the next song. Lin-Manuel Miranda can write great songs with meaningful lyrics, and whoever wrote the movie wanted to highlight the music. Because of this trade-off, the story is shallow, the content is thin, and the overall message is nearly lost.
OUR RATING – A KINKAJOU 6