{"id":16160,"date":"2021-07-30T10:37:05","date_gmt":"2021-07-30T14:37:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/?p=16160"},"modified":"2021-07-30T10:37:05","modified_gmt":"2021-07-30T14:37:05","slug":"film-review-family-friendly-vivo-is-a-missed-opportunity-for-netflix","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/2021\/07\/film-review-family-friendly-vivo-is-a-missed-opportunity-for-netflix.html","title":{"rendered":"Film Review: Family-friendly &#8220;Vivo&#8221; is a missed opportunity for Netflix"},"content":{"rendered":"<h3><strong>Here&#8217;s the latest from the crossroads of faith, media &amp; culture: 07\/30\/21<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/api.vandam.netflix.com\/api\/uploads\/58c32779ac934be4bfa507182e876454\/thumbnail?style=medium_fixed\" data-ember-action=\"1249\" \/><strong><br \/>\nLin-Manuel Miranda&#8217;s ambitious animated family-friendly musical <em>Vivo<\/em> releases globally on Netflix next Friday (8\/6). <\/strong>My review follows the synopsis and trailer below.<\/p>\n<div><strong>Synopsis:<\/strong> <em>Vivo, a one-of-kind kinkajou (aka a rainforest \u201choney bear,\u201d voiced by Miranda), spends his days playing music to the crowds in a lively Havana square with his beloved owner Andr\u00e9s (Buena Vista Social Club\u2019s<strong> Juan de Marcos<\/strong>). Though they may not speak the same language, Vivo and Andr\u00e9s are the perfect duo through their common love of music. When Andr\u00e9s receives a letter from his old song-and-dance partner, the famous Marta Sandoval (three-time Grammy-winning Latin pop legend <strong>Gloria Estefan<\/strong>), inviting him to reconnect with her at her farewell concert in Miami with the hope of reconnecting, it\u2019s up to Vivo to deliver a message that Andr\u00e9s never could: A love letter to Marta, written long ago, in the form of a song. Yet in order to get to Marta, Vivo will need the help of Gabi (newcomer Ynairaly Simo), an energetic purple-haired tween who bounces to the beat of her own offbeat drum, to fulfill his heartfelt mission.<\/em><\/div>\n<div>\n<div><em>Also featuring the voices of <strong>Zoe Salda\u00f1a<\/strong> (Guardians of the Galaxy) as Gabi\u2019s mother, Rosa; <strong>Michael Rooker<\/strong> as a villainous Everglades python, Lutador; <strong>Brian Tyree Henry<\/strong> and <strong>Nicole Byer<\/strong> as a pair of star-crossed spoonbills; and <strong>Katie Lowes, Olivia Trujillo,<\/strong> and <strong>Lidya Jewett<\/strong> as a trio of well-meaning but overzealous scout troop members.<\/em><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><iframe title=\"Vivo | Official Trailer | Netflix\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/BOe8L69JpVI?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<div>\n<div>From Netflix and Sony Pictures Animation, <em>Vivo<\/em> is directed by <strong>Kirk DeMicco<\/strong> (<em>The Croods<\/em>), co-directed by <strong>Brandon Jeffords<\/strong> (<em>Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2)<\/em>, written by <strong>Quiara Alegria Hudes<\/strong> (<em>In the Heights<\/em>) and produced by <strong>Lisa Stewart<\/strong> (<em>Monsters vs. Aliens<\/em>), <strong>Michelle Wong<\/strong> (<em>Hotel Transylvania 2<\/em>) and <strong>Rich Moore<\/strong> (<em>Zootopia<\/em>), with visual consultation by cinematographer<strong> Roger Deakins<\/strong> (<em>Blade Runner 2049<\/em>). Serving as the film\u2019s composer and executive music producer is <strong>Alex Lacamoire<\/strong> (<em>The Greatest Showman<\/em>). The film is executive produced by Lin-Manuel Miranda, <strong>Laurence Mark<\/strong> (<em>Dreamgirls<\/em>), and <strong>Louis<\/strong> <strong>Koo Tin Lok<\/strong> (<em>The Mitchells vs. The Machines<\/em>).<\/div>\n<div><strong>IMHO: <\/strong>Netflix made a big splash in the family animation market last May with the commercial and creative success <em>The Mitchells vs. The Machines<\/em> which <a href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/2021\/05\/ted-koppel-tackles-cancel-culturethe-delightful-subversiveness-of-netflixs-the-mitchells-vs-the-machines.html\">yours truly called &#8220;the creative, witty (and) thoroughly entertaining.&#8221;<\/a> And it was. <em>Vivo<\/em>, by contrast, is colorful, has some truly nice music and may be somewhat diverting for kids (though the snake villain with the glowing eyes could be nightmare fodder). Beyond that, however, it comes off as fairly safe and pedestrian Pixar wannabe.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>It&#8217;s a shame because the makings of another winner are there. Certainly the talents involved have great storytelling in them. Unfortunately, Vivo delivers quite a bit less than the sum of its parts. For one thing, the heart of the story (Andr\u00e9s&#8217; longing to reconnect with Marta after sixty years) just fails to deliver the emotional punch it&#8217;s obviously striving for. Perhaps it would have helped if the film spent more time upfront showing us their youthful relationship. The gauzy flashbacks of the pair performing together just aren&#8217;t enough to pull us into their story and get us to really feel for them.<\/div>\n<div>More fundamentally though, there&#8217;s a certain dishonesty in the story itself. I understand that Netflix wants<em> Vivo<\/em> to be seen as politics-free family entertainment but, if that&#8217;s the goal, have the backstory take place in Puerto Rico or somewhere where people can come and go with relative freedom. I&#8217;m willing to suspend disbelief when it comes to talking kinkajous and pythons but just don&#8217;t try to get me to believe that Cuba is anything other than an island prison.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>\n<p>Ironically, if the creators had embraced the reality of what Cuba is, they would have ended up with a much more emotionally-resonant story &#8211; especially given current headlines of Cubans standing up for their freedom against a brutal and dictatorial regime. For instance, instead of suggesting that Marta opted to leave Cuba sixty years ago because she received an offer to perform at the Mambo Cabana in Miami, they could have shown Andr\u00e9s helping her leave as the country was about to fall to the Castro&#8217;s communist regime. There even could have been a poignant song about how the rise of the dictatorship led to their decades-long separation.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>Moreover, back in the present when Marta invites Andr\u00e9s to attend her farewell concert in Miami, the invitation itself is absurd given the harsh reality of Cuba but his response of off-the-charts denial.\u00a0 He says &#8220;I cannot go to Miami. I&#8217;m an old man.&#8221; I&#8217;m sorry. Miami is ninety miles away. Not a long trek. The real reason he can&#8217;t go is, again, because Cuba is an island prison. And, of course, even if Vivo managed to make his way to the U.S. from Havana he would have been <a href=\"https:\/\/www.latimes.com\/politics\/story\/2021-07-13\/homeland-security-chief-warns-cubans-and-haitians-not-to-come-to-us-by-sea\">denied entry by Homeland Security<\/a>.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><em>Vivo<\/em> could have been an entertaining, emotionally-resonant and bold statement about the value of freedom &#8211; and how young people like Gabi (and, too often, the rest of us) take it for granted. At a time when <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailymail.co.uk\/news\/article-9841699\/Woke-Florida-students-REFUSE-cheer-Team-USA-dont-like-American.html\">showing contempt for America is seen as a mark of cool sophistication<\/a>, it would have been a breath of fresh air to have some pop culture offer some pushback on behalf of the underrated virtue of gratitude. As a country made of human beings, neither our history nor our present is perfect but we have freedom and that&#8217;s no small thing. And you know what? There&#8217;s a market for celebrating that. As it is, <em>Vivo<\/em> is harmless but forgettable fluff.<\/div>\n<div>\n<div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div><strong><em><span class=\"st\">Encourage one another and build each other up &#8211; <\/span><\/em><span class=\"st\">1 Thessalonians 5:11<\/span><\/strong><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Here&#8217;s the latest from the crossroads of faith, media &amp; culture: 07\/30\/21 Lin-Manuel Miranda&#8217;s ambitious animated family-friendly musical Vivo releases globally on Netflix next Friday (8\/6). My review follows the synopsis and trailer below. Synopsis: Vivo, a one-of-kind kinkajou (aka a rainforest \u201choney bear,\u201d voiced by Miranda), spends his days playing music to the crowds&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":225,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7150,10,13,7192,14,24,26,31,1],"tags":[12102,12140,12111,4607],"class_list":["post-16160","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-animals","category-current-events","category-family-matters","category-freedom","category-gratitude","category-movies","category-politics","category-television","category-uncategorized","tag-vivo","tag-gloria-estefan","tag-lin-manuel-miranda","tag-netflix"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Film Review: Family-friendly &quot;Vivo&quot; is a missed opportunity for Netflix<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/2021\/07\/film-review-family-friendly-vivo-is-a-missed-opportunity-for-netflix.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Film Review: Family-friendly &quot;Vivo&quot; is a missed opportunity for Netflix\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Here&#8217;s the latest from the crossroads of faith, media &amp; culture: 07\/30\/21 Lin-Manuel Miranda&#8217;s ambitious animated family-friendly musical Vivo releases globally on Netflix next Friday (8\/6). 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Kennedy","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/#\/schema\/person\/e5d5ef9caeb6b01bcbf08ca6de6591c2","name":"John W. Kennedy","description":"John W. Kennedy is the founder and Dir. of Development of The Creative Universe Entertainment\u2122, a media consultation and development company focusing on the creation, development and support of high-quality mainstream entertainment that upholds positive timeless values, including trust in God. Current projects include \"Bryant Park\" (an uplifting romantic-comedy) and \"Photo Finish\" (an award-winning sci-fi TV pilot). He has written over 100 children's novels based on episodes of the Cartoon Network series \"Ben 10\", \"Ben 10: Alien Force\", \"Ben 10: Ultimate Alien\", \"Ben 10: Omniverse\" and \"Generator Rex\" among others. He also writes Beliefnet\u2019s \"Faith, Media &amp; Culture\" blog. Previously, he has produced successful news and talk programming for CNN, Fox News, Pax TV and SiriusXM. Specialties: Script Writing, Movie\/TV Novelizations &amp; Adaptations, TV Content Creation and Development, Creative Consultation, Producing and Booking News and Talk shows. He can be reached for writing, producing and consulting services at 516-640-1182.","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/author\/jkennedy"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16160","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/225"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16160"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16160\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16268,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16160\/revisions\/16268"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16160"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16160"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16160"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}