Vivo

Sadly, the film's decision to downplay Cuban music in favor of American pop is stifling, and the repeated attempts at humor only serve to exacerbate its predictable structure.

A decade in the making, Vivo is full of surprises. While the story itself has its twists and turns that fail to properly hold the story along the way, it hits the ground running and manages to stick the landing in the end.

Vivo is a strong and heartfelt feature that is a celebration to music that only animation can deliver with such style and fun.

From the musical mind of Lin-Manuel Miranda, the film gives us an array of satisfying new songs for the likes of Miranda and Gloria Estefan to sing with a number of fascinating characters and situations surrounding them.

The animation in the film is very effective, with some dream-like images that work very well in some scenes. It may not be as slick a production as some other animated films I've seen this year, but it is very effective on an emotional level.