Vivo is a Sony Pictures animated flick that premiered on Netflix. I’m not sure if that shows a lack of confidence in the film or if Netflix just threw around THAT much money. But I could have seen this as a theatrical release… I mean, if Secret Life of Dogs can be theatrical, surely Vivo could have been.

The flick is about an elderly musician and his pet/friend kinkajou (think monkey with huge ready-to-sell-merch eyes) living in Havana. When the man learns a former flame (“the one that got away”) is playing her retirement concert in Miami, he decides to go visit… and bring with him a song he has written for her. With the help of a precocious little girl, Vivo try to reach Miami in time.

This is a perfectly pleasant little movie and I really enjoyed the spunky, take-charge girl and her Statement of Self song (Beat of my Own Drum). The monkey was fine but never really popped for me… I didn’t care so much for his design and I certainly had to tamper my cynicism over his marketing potential. But I can’t hate the film and it does brush gracefully against a higher score but it never quite got there.

The acting and performances are good. The little girl is voiced by newcomer Ynairaly Simo (who should get career advice from Saioirse Ronan). Michael Rooker does his trademark slithery backwoods swamp voice as a slithery backwoods swamp snake… almost giving Kaa a run for his money for great snake villains (*gasp*). Zoe Saldana plays the little girls mom and Gloria Estefan aptly plays the retiring Miami star.

Lin-Manuel Miranda voices Vivo and wrote the songs. You can often hear his trademark cadence and wordplay and that’s legitimately fun. But most of the songs didn’t really transcend. They were perfectly serviceable. But the biggest crime – and I could feel it coming – was that the SONG OF SONGS that the film was building toward was… fine. It really needed to knock it out of the park and yet… yeah… it was ok.

So Vivo is just that… an ok film. I was never bored with it… the animation was pretty solid even if I didn’t love some of the designs. The voice actors were game and some of the songs were fun. It just never amounted to much beyond what it is. An ok film.

Score: 77