In the Heights Review!

 Alright! Attention everyone! The most amazing thing has happened: I saw a movie adaptation of a musical... 

and liked it...

This is the first time this has happened, by the way (And I have seen my fair share of musicals). 

This is my review of In the Heights, the newest "big" musical based on Lin-Manuel Miranda's 2005 Broadway sensation In the Heights. It is, sadly enough, bombing at the box office right now, which is very unfortunate. 

And let's just take a moment to appreciate how many big musicals are coming out this year: This one, Steven Spielberg's West Side Story, tick... tick... BOOM!, and Dear Evan Hansen. That's a lot more than your average year. And a lot of them are actually looking... good? I hesitate to say? 

Let's start this off by saying I have liked none of the movie musicals I have seen. Not the animated Disney flicks, but these big-screen adaptations of Broadway plays. They always make the same stupid mistakes - cast big actors who can't sing for box office reasons, follow the same basic plot, and have, like, extraneous runtimes and lackluster energy outside of the musical numbers. 

In the Heights, for the most part, is able to dodge most of those problems (Even if the lack of star power destroyed its box office potential). I really appreciated that I didn't recognize most of the faces. Thank goodness it's not another musical with James Corden in it... I swear, he's in every musical and he's always terrible.

But let's not talk about that, we're here to talk about good stuff. Good stuff like In the Heights. 

If I had to summarize my viewing experience, it would be like a lightning in a bottle. I was honestly really tired and just done with everything when I saw it (I had a stressful week, okay?), and the movie just instantly pulls you in and gives you this wonderful, vibrant world and likable characters. It's the perfect escapist fantasy. There's no way to walk out of this movie and not be just a bit happier. It's an entire world that just sucks you in and it's amazing.

It would take a lot to stop the vibe of the movie from affecting you. Shoot, I was playing clips on YouTube while writing this and just kept being distracted. You can't look away. It's great. 

You also can't help but feel inspired. The main story is, like all musicals, a romance story, and I legitimately thought it wouldn't end well. I thought they would part ways as unlikely friends. This is in part because I think Vanessa actually didn't like him (He's been hung up on her for years and she, like, gives up after he doesn't dance with her?). 

I'm not sure if Vanessa's actually a good person. We mostly like her because Usnavi likes her. Other than that, she's actually a pretty awful person. But, she does sound absolutely amazing in 96,000, so what do I know? 

And that's just a minor criticism. I have two others - 1, that they cut Inútil, and 2) Paciencia Y Fe dragged like no other song in the film. Should've trimmed a minute or two off or made the storyboard more interesting. 

This part was pretty generic.

My one legitimate criticism against In the Heights is that the second act lags, but that's true for all musicals. The first half normally has the signature songs and fun vibes while the second is more plot-driven and focused on wrapping up characters, leading to long emotional songs that you'll fall asleep during. It happens to In the Heights.

Something I absolutely loved was Anthony Ramos in the movie. Oh my goodness, he's so... he's leading man material, that's for sure. His charisma carries the movie. 

I also absolutely loved the music. There are three showstoppers that will take your breath away - In the Heights, 96,000, and Blackout. Those three will have time slow down and the theater pause. I can't count how many times I went back and rewatched those scenes on HBOMax (This is why the movie's bombing in theaters, by the way). 

Overall, I give In the Heights an 8/10. "In the Heights has, quite possibly, the best "vibe" of any movie you'll see this year. Its infectious energy and earnest zealousness make it one of the few movie musicals to not suck."

I absolutely loved this scene.