Lin-Manuel Miranda’s animated musical-adventure-comedy Vivo arrives on Blu-ray after playing a year on streaming service Netflix.
The Production: 4/5
Vivo the kinkajou (Lin-Manuel Miranda) has been living the life in Havana, Cuba with his elderly human companion Andrés (Juan de Marcos González), earning money on the streets as musicians. One day, Andrés receives a letter from his old flame Marta Sandoval (Gloria Estefan) who left Cuba decades ago to pursue a singing career. Her letter is an invitation for Andrés to attend her farewell retirement concert in Miami. With encouragement from the community, Andrés prepares to leave, hoping to perform a song he wrote for her that explains his true feelings for her, but Vivo becomes selfish, not wanting to leave his home. The next morning, Vivo returns to their apartment to find that Andrés has passed away in his sleep. At his memorial service, Vivo meets Gabi (Ynairaly Simo), Andrés’s great niece, who is attending the service with her mother, Rosa (Zoe Saldana). When Vivo realizes that Gabi lives in Florida, he hitches a ride in her suitcase in hopes of delivering that love song to Marta. Vivo and Gabi head out on an adventure, hoping to make it from Key West to Miami in less than ten hours, taking a detour through the Everglades. The two are the definition of an odd couple, as Gabi tends to fly by the seat of her pants, improvising along the way, while Vivo is more structured and can’t handle things when plans go awry.
Vivo was originally developed by Lin-Manuel Miranda at DreamWorks Animation, eventually placed into turn around and picked up by Sony Pictures Animation. Unfortunately, the COVID-19 pandemic placed a theatrical release on hold until Sony instead sold the film to Netflix, where it debuted in August 2021. Miranda composed eleven songs for the film, including the opening number One of a Kind and Gabi’s “theme song” My Own Drum, both containing the composer’s signature Latin-infused rapping. Miranda obviously has a lot of fun as the voice of Vivo, with much of his dialogue sounding more improvised than scripted. Newcomer Ynairaly Simo does a fine job as the tween Gabi, a young girl who may be a musical prodigy but is also dealing under the surface with the loss of her father. The supporting cast is fun, too, including Zoe Saldana as Rosa who has her hands full with her daughter Gabi’s impulsive behavior; Brian Tyree Henry and Nicole Byer as an oddball pair of spoonbills that Vivo befriends in the Everglades; Michael Rooker as menacing snake Lutador; and Katie Lowes, Olivia Trujillo and Lidya Jewett are hilarious as Gabi’s perky scout troop friends. The animation is colorful with lots of depth, with some assistance from cinematographer Roger Deakins as visual consultant. Vivo is a sweet and fun-filled musical adventure.
Video: 5/5
3D Rating: NA
Sony brings Vivo to Blu-ray one year after its streaming debut on Netflix with a beautiful 1080p AVC-encoded transfer (on a BD-50) that shows just how strong the format can still be. Detail is excellent, with strands of fur on Vivo visible in even the longest of shots, lush green leaves in the Everglades, and the strands of thread in Gabi’s bracelet. Colors are bold and exceptionally vivid without appearing overly saturated or blooming. Contrast is excellent, too, with deep blacks and strong shadow detail, and bright whites with noticeable highlights that never appear washed out during the daytime sequences.
Audio: 4.5/5
The default DTS-HD MA 5.1 track is very good (Netflix offered Dolby Atmos, as do the 4K digital versions on both Vudu and iTunes). It does retain the wide front soundstage of the Atmos track as voices movie with their characters across that front axis. Surround is very active when needed, while LFE adds some much-needed low-end to the many songs in the film. It is not quite as immersive as the Dolby Atmos track, but still does a terrific job.
Special Features: 2/5
Sing Along Edition (1080p; 95:40): Watch the movie with karaoke-style lyrics on-screen during the musical numbers. Only viewable with the default DTS-HD MA 5.1 track.
My Own Drum (Remix) Lyric Video (1080p; 2:59): A lyric music video featuring the vocal talents of Ynairaly Simo and Missy Elliott.
Behind the Animation (1080p; 3:57): Way too short EPK piece on the making of the film that actually feels incomplete.
DVD Copy
Digital Copy: An insert contains a code to redeem a digital copy in HD on Movies Anywhere.
Overall: 4/5
Vivo is a sweet and fun-filled musical adventure featuring songs by Lin-Manuel Miranda. Presentation on Blu-ray is excellent, but the special features are almost non-existent.
Vivo
$17.32 $11.85
Todd Erwin has been a reviewer at Home Theater Forum since 2008. His love of movies began as a young child, first showing Super 8 movies in his backyard during the summer to friends and neighbors at age 10. He also received his first movie camera that year, a hand-crank Wollensak 8mm with three fixed lenses. In 1980, he graduated to "talkies" with his award-winning short The Ape-Man, followed by the cult favorite The Adventures of Terrific Man two years later. Other films include Myth or Fact: The Talbert Terror and Warren's Revenge (which is currently being restored). In addition to movie reviews, Todd has written many articles for Home Theater Forum centering mostly on streaming as well as an occasional hardware review, is the host of his own video podcast Streaming News & Views on YouTube and is a frequent guest on the Home Theater United podcast.
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