Vivo (2021) - Movie Review

Okay, I know that I’ve been stanning Lin-Manuel Miranda pretty hard these last few weeks, but in my defence, his isn’t the only name attached to this that made me want to see this particular film. A Sony Pictures animation, in the same year that they crushed it with The Mitchells Vs. The Machines, co-written by Quiara Alegría Hudes who also did In The Heights, production blessing from Wreck-It Ralph director Rich Moore, even a consulting credit from Roger freaking Deakins; that’s gotta equal up to something worthwhile. And yeah, it’s pretty entertaining, but just about every good quality about it comes with a massive “But” after it.

Encanto (2021) - Movie Review

It’s Disney time again, and it’s also time to take another look at what Lin-Manuel Miranda’s been getting up to in 2021. The music here is pretty good and keeps with what Miranda is good at, and man, is it catchy. I’m still humming The Family Madrigal as I’m writing this, and the individual character songs like Mirabel (Stephanie Beatriz)’s Waiting For A Miracle, Isabela (Diane Guerrero)’s What Else Can I Do?, and even Luisa (Jessica Darrow)’s Surface Pressure are all bops. Hell, We Don’t Talk About Bruno even has some Frozen-level irony in the lyrics, which is quite the treat.

In The Heights (2021) - Movie Review

It’s kind of astounding just how much progress director Jon M. Chu has made in just a few short years. Not that long ago, he was making shit like Jem And The Holograms and adding to the increasingly diminished returns of the Step Up sequels. But then Crazy Rich Asians happened and… something must’ve just clicked in his head. I bring this up because his latest has a fair bit in common with CRA, namely in how it’s drenched in a very specific cultural aesthetic and identity; I’m guessing he’s sticking with what he now knows he can work with. But where it gets really crazy is that he has somehow managed to get past even CRA’s genuine visual splendour, and made an even greater film in the process.

tick, tick... BOOM! (2021) - Movie Review

Well, my last pick turned out to be a total dud, so let’s try this again. Let’s go with a musical film made by someone I have a reasonable amount of faith can actually pull off this kind of production: Lin-Manuel Miranda. I have all manner of respect for what the guy has done already, between giving Daveed Diggs the kind of platform his talents deserve, and just how brilliant Hamilton is all on its own. However, despite some shared DNA, theatre isn’t cinema. And with him stepping into the director’s chair for the first time here, I am definitely rooting for him but I would totally understand if this doesn’t work out as planned. Not that I even need to entertain the thought of that being the case, though.

Mary Poppins Returns (2019) - Movie Review

With 2019 already set as the year for Disney to go full-force in reviving its most beloved stories, today’s film is going to ultimately serve as the bar for what follows. No, this isn’t a straight-up remake of the 1964 original, but with how it’s presented, it might as well be: It’s got pretty much everything I remember from before. The colourful soundtrack full of whimsy-tinged jazz and swing, the respectably subtle lyricism in front of it that helps build the story’s bigger points, an emphasis on reconnecting with the inner child and finding joy in stuff and nonsense, an American doing an obvious Mockney accent; it all fits.

Moana (2016) - Movie Review

Before the House of Mouse brought Marvel and Star Wars into their collective fold, they had already proven their worth for rather shrewd business ideas with the Disney Princess canon. Taking what is essentially their most iconic characters and bringing them under a single banner has led to a lot of hot debating over the worth of both the label and the characters that fall within it. Now, this has resulted in more than a few feminist critiques over how these characters work as people to aspire to be, and there are certainly some problematic instances under that umbrella, but that’s not exactly my field of discussion. Besides, as a man, my opinion concerning who is an appropriate female role model would just end up being discarded before I even start talking.

I don’t claim to have sat through all of the films in the canon, but I’ve seen enough to know that there are some good (Mulan), bad (Snow White) and everything in between when it comes to assertion. So, with this latest inclusion within the canon (that I’m sure will debated until the end of days as to whether it even counts as part of the Princess Line), I’ll admit that I’m interested to see where this studio will go next.