User reviews

This is a sweet movie about telling others how you feel. If you're a fan of LMM, this won't disappoint.

Vivo is a kinkajou, voiced by Lin-Manuel Miranda, who travels from Cuba to Florida to deliver a song to his master's long-lost love. It's an adventure filled with great songs and a lot of heart. My 6yo adored it and so did I.

In one word - (maybe two) - Lin Manuel!!

It's a heart warming movie with great animation and absolutely the best music.... two hours later and we're still 'bouncing to the beat of our own drum'. An absolute must watch with kids and I truly hope I get to see it in theatres someday - will be an absolute treat ! No idea why people have to 'hate' something like this - and whoever calls the songs bland needs to et their ears checked ! Just go see it and get your dancing shoes when you do!

If you are a Lin Manuel Miranda or Pixar fan you will love this movie. It gives off strong In the Heights, Luca, Soul, Up, and Coco vibes. If you are a fan of Lin you will be surprised.

I like the animation and the songs. The mission that the characters have to do is heart warming. It's great to have Gloria Estefan singing in it too.

So, everything BUT the story is excellent... which is weird. The animation is beautiful. The voice acting is wonderful. Lin Manuel Miranda's music is sensational. If my kids wanted to watch this 100 times, i wouldn't mind listening to it while i read a magazine or did dishes or something. But the characters and story aren't very engaging. Neither of my kids got sucked in, and i definitely did it. Its a simple story and moves real slow. Jokes are repetitive. I'm writing this review while watching it. Cuz its kinda boring. I'm pretty bored. Oh wait, another song, hold on... .... Oh, that was beautiful! Yeah, songs are amazing. Watch the movie once and then just listen to soundtrack. But that soundtrack... is sensational.

The beginning is great, some interesting musical numbers, representation is great, but it feels...empty.

It's just an ok film with a very weak plot that everybody will forget soon.

I liked the animation and Vivo played by Lin Manuel Miranda, it was pretty to look at and some funny scenes I liked.

The original songs that Lin Manuel Miranda made for the movie sounded nice and either fits the character or the situation they are in.

Also there are some effective emotional scenes, I had fun and enjoyed this animated journey.

Went through the users who gave it a 1* and saw that they are avid Disney fans. If you don't like animated movies not done by Disney then don't watch and stop dropping the average on IMDB. I found vivo fantastic and supper cute. The animation is awesome, how is the animation mediocre if it was done by the Oscar winning company that did spider verse. It's a style like everything else, if you only want princess stick to Disney.

The songs were some of my favorite as well, reminded me why Lin is the best at music making.

The story made me cry at the end. The only thing I didn't like was the drum song, but everything else was fantastic. Would recommend to everyone.

The music was greatly delivered, however for me the story was a bit meh. Animation is brilliant, love the colors and great voice casting.

Sure some competent ideas, but overall the movie felt patchy. Most of the songs didn't flow well with the story, and some plotlines felt shoehorned in. So all in all a overall fine movie, but could have been more streamlined.

Liked the story line and loved the characters voices. The beautiful songs kept me engaged with the colorful animation. It had its sad part tugged at my heart and funny parts. Great to see the Cuban and American life with having the music in common. Really enjoyed Gabi's catchy rap song.

"If anyone asks, you are my emotional support animal"

Following back-to-back triumphs in the Animation space; Sony is back at it yet again! This time with 'Vivo'. If I were to sum it up; this is a heartwarming musical that reflects upon the Cuban People as well as their rich Culture and is imbued with sumptuous melodies and prismatic imageries.

It may not attain the same peak of perfection as Spider-Verse or The Mitchells vs The Machines did, but I will say this; with its multifarious stylizing and lighthearted approach, it does leave a good impression overall.

All credit goes to its rather scintillating Score, which courteously combined a myriad of Genres and their distinguishable characteristics. Coupled with an array of stunning visuals and dozens of wonderful songs; there can be no doubt that this was a sight for sore eyes or for that matter, the ears too.

The only drawbacks that can be found are buried deep in its Writing and the bulk of them correlates with character portrayals (Or I should say the lack of them). Storywise, I feel it was never meant to go the extra mile. Like Never! Therefore the plot comes off as pretty generic and similar remarks apply to all the characters, except for Vivo.

He contributes a lot in regards to the emotional moments and their general effectiveness. I was a little surprised to see myself teared up many a time (Which I didn't really expect).

Time to find me a Kinkajou, I guess! :-D.

As a huge fan of Hamilton, I was quite looking forward to seeing Lin-Manuel Miranda's foray into animated films. The songs are undeniably Hamilton'esque overlaid with Cuban and edgy modern vibes. Somehow though the story felt very self-centered around Lin-Manuel's character (Vivo) and lacked depth and heart around other characters, notably Marta and the song written by Andrés that lacked the expected punch compared to others that Lin-Manuel gave himself.

This film is definitely not the sum of its parts. The emotional core of the story can't really be identified among its messy composition - is it the bond between Vivo and Andrés? The tension between Gabi and her "friends", or between her and her mother? The prior relationship between the singer and Andrés? The swamp animals? The new relationship between Vivo and Gabi? The plot bounced between these so much that none of them fulfilled their full potential, even if the individual moments were enjoyable to watch and punctuated with lively musical sequences (brash, but lively). Gabi is quite loud and seems like an annoying comedic relief sidekick elevated to the status of main character, which makes it much harder to watch. This ultimately felt like a series of talented skits barely stitched together. By the end, I was wondering "what was that really about?"

Kirk DeMicco's 'Vivo' is a lively, exuberant, Cuban-infused animated musical with with plenty of laughs. Lin-Manuel Miranda provides charming, catchy songs ('My Own Drum' is a banger!) that seamlessly merge with the animation in an impeccably synchronized song and dance. Ynairaly Simo's voice work is energetic.

Ever since its announcement in the mid 2010s, a little passion project from Lin Manuel Miranda and Quiara Alegría Hudes came into the limelight at Sony Pictures Animation, simply known as Vivo. Despite getting the shaft from worldwide theaters to be generally released on Netflix, like the other SPA films of this year, the film has been getting all kinds of love and attention from critics and audiences as of late. As of now, this marks the studio's first ever full length musical feature, with all of the songs created by Miranda himself, who also lent his voice to the titular character. So, now that it's out and about, how does it stand on its own?

The movie follows a one-of-kind kinkajou named Vivo, whose Cuban music playing owner Andres receives a letter from his old partner, the famous Marta Sandoval, telling him to attend a farewell concert. Due to tragedy striking poor Andres, it's up to Vivo to deliver a love letter to Marta, in the form of a song. Along the way to get to Marta, he meets the rebellious youngster Gabi, and the two bounce to the beat of their own drum to fulfill Andres' wishes. Now off the bat, this isn't the most stunning premise for a movie, as a lot of familiar beats are included to move the plot forward. You got the main character's arc of trying to fulfill his original owner's destiny, the crazy annoying side character, the obstacles expected when trying to deliver an important message, the macguffin, etc. In addition, one could imagine that since this is Vivo's story, that Gabi didn't necessarily need to be there, especially when there are a lot of strange things Vivo encounters outside his original home. Plus, it does take a while to get used to Gabi's overly obnoxious demeanor, no matter how rebellious it may be.

However, where the film lacks a strongly enticing premise, it more than makes up for in its execution. Given how many hurdles Vivo has to jump through in order to deliver his important love song to Marta Sandoval, the stakes really do come up at the expense of knowing whether or not Vivo can deliver the gift of not. As the film's biggest message is about loving someone that meant so much to you in the past, one can already root for Vivo just to reunite the love of his owner's life. Admittedly, that mission does end up losing some momentum around the second act once Vivo has to go through the harsher realities Florida has to offer nature-wise, but there are some cute friends and terrifying enemies that Vivo and Gabi meet along the way, so it ends up being in lieu of character development. In fact, while this is mainly Vivo's story through thick and thin, a lot of significant changes end up compromising Gabi and Andres' own family during the course of the film due to the connection between the musical kinkajou and his charming owner. How sweet when a monkey can bring a whole family back together again.

In terms of art direction, the movie is nothing short of gorgeous, especially in contrast from Cuba to Florida. The luscious landscapes of retroistic Havana may look down to Earth, but once we're in Florida, the film pulls no shortcuts in allowing the diverse amount of locations to speak for themselves in terms of lighting, scale, sets, exterior decor, and other fascinating material far beyond what the naked can spot. In addition, the more peaceful looking towns in Miami are nothing compared to the grandiose ultra vibrant city that the place is most well known for, as well as the dangerous everglades. Character wise, the cast look appropriately structured and caricatured enough to stand out amongst each other, and the motion allows for some solid performances, aided by a brilliant cast of Miranda, Ynairaly Simo, Zoe Saldana, Juan de Marcos Gonzalez and more. The true experimental highlights of the visuals are reserved for the wonderful musical numbers though, and that's where the animation crew really got to shine in bringing lush latino artwork inside the world of moving images.

Speaking of the musical numbers, a lot of them vary in tune, but they all carry the plot and motivations forward beautifully. The opening song, One of a Kind, immediately establishes the tight connection Vivo has with Andres as his original owner, with some authentically upbeat Cuban tunage. Other songs establish a character's inner desires, like the harmoniously colorful Mambo Cabana for Andres' love of Marta, the modernesque upbeat My Own Drum that sets up Gabi's rebellious dominance, and even the suavely romantic Love's Gonna Pick you Up, reserved for two quirky spoonbills in love. Other songs merely move the plot forward to be in lieu of bigger scenes like the intensively catchy Keep the Beat and the dangerously tense Tough Crowd. And then there's the love song made for Marta, which not only serves as a solemn reminder of the old friend Marta once knew, but also encapsulates the movie's themes as a beacon of hope to those who are still loved by those from their past. Needless to say, Miranda truly outdid himself as the song auteur he is, for a family audience this time around.

It's amazing the wonders someone as beloved and gifted as Miranda and his creative partner can bring to the world when given the right opportunity to shine. So while it may not offer too many surprises along its way, Vivo is quite the engaging adventure that livens up with some charming characters, appetizing visuals and some of the finest songs in Miranda's discography. If you are yet to see this film or are a pure Miranda enthusiast, then by all means give it a go on Netflix. At this point, with all of the lovely content Sony, Miranda and more are bringing to the world, only time will tell what's left up their sleeves.

This is unfortunately not a great movie, even though I really wanted to like it. We were excited to find it on Netflix. Watched with my kids (10 & 6). The younger one got bored (just like me), the older one started to sigh every time a song commenced. The lyrics are, I don't know a nicer word for it, uninteresting. Also repetitive. They don't push the story forward, there's no point to them even though the whole story revolves around music. If you compare this to a movie like Soul, which is also musically driven, it's the difference between watching the Yankees at work vs watching the Pirates. The shirts are clean, the audience is there, hotdogs and beer aplenty and they play in the same league but... not really. The girls scouts were written by some misogynist. On the upside, the graphics are beautiful and I really sympathized with the old man for the first ten minutes. Give it a shot for your kids, but to adults I would say don't clear out your schedule for this.

Once again, Sony Pictures Animation and Netflix releases another film this year and that's Vivo. I watched it and I loved it so much, believe it or not but there are a ton of great musical numbers in this movie, they are all great to listen to. I really love the animation and the art style. Just looking at the character designs, especially Vivo, Gabi and the Sand Dollars, they are all adorable. I also love the story and the humor too. Just looking at the animation style makes you think that this movie looks like it came out of DreamWorks Animation or Blue Sky Studios (R. I. P Blue Sky Studios and screw you Disney) and of course, this movie has plenty of heart and likable characters. Vivo is undoubtedly one of the absolute best animated movies from Sony Pictures Animation and I believe that this movie will be part of the Oscars. I give Vivo a 9.5/10.

Lin-Manuel Miranda had a busy year in 2021. Along with directing a Best Picture nominee in "Tick...Tick...Boom!" he provided the music for two animated movies. One of these was "Encanto" which went on to win "Best Animated Picture" as the Oscars. The animated film was this one, "Vivo". One advantage this film has over "Encanto" is that Lin actually does the singing in this film. Miranda is such a unique talent, no one can write songs the way he does, and no one can perform them the way he does. Not only is he great singer, he is a great voice actor as well. There are so many jokes in this movie that are sold by his delivery. He provides a lot of pained screams that are comedy gold.

The songs throughout the movie are all good, some of them being stuck in your head for weeks after hearing them. The animation is also very good, the character designs are distinct and the movements smooth.

The story ebbs and flows in quality. The opening 30 minutes and ending 30 minutes are very good. They hit all the emotional beats just right and move characters forward in a believable way. I even enjoy the twist they do on the kids' buddy road trip formula. Typically, there are two characters that don't get along and they gripe the whole time. That happens here as well, but since one character can't understand the other, they are able to be as brutally mean as they like without it offending the other. They just naively go along like they are the best of friends, and it leads to some funny jokes.

It is just that pesky middle 30 minutes that feels like a series of plot contrivances in order to make the movie happen. There are plenty of ways to fix the problem in a quick and painless way, but to make the story last for 94 minutes, needless complications arise. It is all basic animated movie stuff, and there are some funny jokes interlaced throughout, but it doesn't rise to the quality of its opening or closing.

The first 30 minutes gives the movie its emotional core. The final 30 minutes give it is satisfactory ending. The middle 30 minutes give it typical kids' movie shenanigans. But there is good animation, music and humor throughout the whole runtime.

Boring. It seems that it is just a musical where the argument takes a backseat. It's just song after song and some of them quite improvised. The co-star, the purple haired girl is so annoying that you never empathize with her. If you are not a fan of this musical genre, you will end up hating the movie.

Love the fun characters, catchy songs and a beautiful story.

This seems like a straight to video movie you find in the discount bin. Way better kid movies then this.

What difference can one song make?

A new animated musicals from Netflix. Vivo, a music-loving kinkajou, embarked on a journey to deliver his friend's last song.

Most of the songs in the movie were entertaining to listen to. They gave enjoyable vibes and energy to the scenes. Also, the animation was superb and worked well with the music. One of the songs, even though it had fun animation, was pretty annoying because the singer was screaming for most of it.

The story was nothing new for a musical movie. The trip that Vivo and the kids went through, although funny at times, was silly and kinda pointless. I would have liked it more if the journey had a bigger impact on either Vivo or the kids. However, the core of the story was Vivo, in horror of his friend, delivering a song to a famous singer. This part at the end was good and impactful.

The characters were straightforward as well. Most of the characters didn't grow that much through their journey. They did try to have emotions, but besides the main story, I didn't get much from the other characters.

Overall, despite the typical story, great animation and story still made the movie entertaining and fun, especially for kids and family. 7/10.