The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Netflix’s animated ‘Vivo’ lifted by songs by Lin-Manuel Miranda
Not up there with other Lin-Manuel Miranda efforts, animated romp ‘Vivo’ still benefits from his talents
Sony Pictures Animation is on a bit of a heater.
In 2018, it put out the visually stunning and Academy Award-winning “Spider-Man: Into the SpiderVerse.”
It followed with the reasonably well-received “The Angry Birds Movie 2” in 2019.
Its next effort, the highly inventive “The Mitchells vs. The Machines” debuted on Netflix last year, and the movie holds an impressive 98 percent fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
Now comes its first musical effort, “Vivo,” which lands on Netflix this week and boasts songs written by “Hamilton” and “In the Heights” creator Lin-Manuel Miranda.
While it doesn’t reach the heights of “Spider-Verse” and isn’t likely to be close to 100 percent on Rotten Tomatoes, “Vivo” is a colorful and largely charming work that may have you humming for a few hours.
The Latin-flavored adventure is directed and co-written by Kirk DeMicco (“The Croods”). His co-writer is Quiara Alegría Hudes, who penned the book and screenplay for the respective stage and film versions of “In the Heights.” (To tie up the loose ends, the codirecting credit for “Vivo” goes to Brandon Jeffords, while Hudes shares credit for the story with Peter Barsocchini.)
“Vivo” is named after its central character, a kinkajou — a small rainforest mammal often referred to as a “honey bear.” Voiced by Miranda, this little guy lives in Cuba, where he regularly performs music in a town square with his owner and best pal, Andres (Juan de Marcos of Cuban music ensemble Buena Vista Social Club).
After a performance, Andres receives a letter from his musical partner from long ago, superstar Marta Sandoval (Grammy winner and Latin pop legend Gloria Estefan). She is retiring and would love it if Andres would travel to Miami to attend her farewell show.
It turns out Andres had feelings for her back in the day, but he never expressed them and let her go her own way to pursue stardom. Now, he shows Vivo a song he wrote about her back then — a melodic number he could present to her as a gift and expression of the love he still harbors for her.
Vivo is very much against the idea — he likes his routine and their two-block commute from home to the square — and seizes on Andres’ reservations about making the venture due to his age.
“Yeah, great point,” Vivo says. “Know your limits.”
(It’s a fun idea to have a cute little monkey-like creature who’s wound pretty tightly and decidedly not in the market for adventure.)
However, through a series of events, Vivo soon finds himself in the midst of the quest he dreaded. He makes his way to the bizarre land known as Florida, where he begrudgingly befriends Andres’ spirited, purple-haired niece, Gabi (newcomer Ynairaly Simo).
Gabi becomes devoted to getting Vivo to the concert. That will mean betraying the wishes of her well-intentioned and frustrated single mother, Rosa (Zoe Saldana of “Guardians of the Galaxy), who wants her to be more committed to a Girl Scouts-like organization that holds very little interest for the tween.
Along the way, Vivo and Gabi will befriend a pair of spoonbills voiced by Brian Tyree Henry (“Atlanta”) and comedienne Nicole Byer; and run afoul of a noisehating Everglades python (Michael Rooker of “The Walking Dead”) as well as a trio of well-meaning but overzealous scouts (Katie Lowes, Olivia Trujillo, and Lidya Jewett) who, like Gabi’s mother, want her to get with the program.
“Vivo” is lifted by having the music-composition talents of Miranda, who previously contributed his gifts to the 2016 Walt Disney Animation Studios hit “Moana.” Unfortunately, though, “Vivo” is another reminder that his songs are best sung by more talented vocalists, as they largely are in the aforementioned stage-musical works. That isn’t to say he doesn’t have his moments with some of the more melodic tunes.
Much like “The Mitchells vs. The Machines,” “Vivo” will all but pop off your high-definition television. However, while it probably benefits from having cinematographer extraordinaire Roger Deakins (“The Shawshank Redemption,” “No Country for Old Men”) as a visual consultant, it doesn’t seem to be doing anything all that innovative.
It also isn’t a powerhouse emotionally but does deliver a few requisite heartwarming moments.
By no means a classic, “Vivo” hits enough of the right notes, literally and figuratively, to put it on your family-time calendar.