Jessica Arnold

Is it Pixars best film? Absolutely not. Would I watch it again? Sure. 3 stars for being cute! Would have been pretty disappointed if I paid for it though. Glad it was free to watch. Animation was pretty, found myself laughing several times, cute characters, loved the Italian elements. Reminded me a lot of The Little Mermaid, so much so that I was halfway expecting Luca to start singing "Part Of Your World". Also had the same conflicts as the TV show "H20 Just Add Water" where characters turn into mermaids when they get wet and try to find ways to keep it a secret. I went into it thinking it was going to be a "kid friendly" movie in the worst way, meaning extremely cheesy jokes. But I think it surprised me. I was hopeful that towards the end of the movie there would be a similar message as Zootopia where there is clearly a theme of differences and prejudice and stereotypes (hinting at racism), but it wasn't there. It would have been a perfectly acceptable theme since the town has a fear and hatred of sea monsters. Seems like some missed opportunities for deeper themes. Pixar usually touches on some heavy topics, but this story was lacking the adult messages that make us cry, pull on our heart strings, and linger in our thoughts after the movie ends. That's my biggest complaint about the movie. I will say that Pixar does an amazing job at creating genuine and loving friendships. I really love the friendship between Luca and Alberto. I don't know whether to call it a bromance or a big brother/little brother relationship because I'm still not sure the age difference between the two boys. I'm also really glad that they kept the relationship between Luca and Giulia platonic instead of throwing an unnecessary love interest in there. I was worried at one point that Alberto was jealous that Luca was getting more of Giulias attention and literally said out loud "here comes the love triangle" but this wasn't the case, thankfully. Boys and girls can be friends without falling in love! I wish there would have been more plot centered around Albertos family life as it's clear that his past experiences had much to do with why he made his decision at the end *trying not to give away too much plot*. Also I found Lucas relationship with his father to be a little...lacking? Though he is present through the entire film (Not sure what was going on there, maybe I was reading into it too much). The ending was nice and I think it sets the stage for a part 2. Maybe a 2nd movie would have a deeper message or moral theme and go into detail about the characters past a bit more.

It was everything I wanted it to be, and more! All of the songs were played out just as I imagined them, there was good use of editing and motion to really turn this into a movie adaptation and not just scene-by-scene of the stage performance. I loved every single character. The singing was amazing, but I was more impressed with the acting...it wasn't corny or overdone, it felt real. Overall, it's a good summer movie. I laughed, I cried, I sang. I left the movie theater smiling. I don't think there's a single song or performance Lin-Manuel could produce that I wouldn't love. Hamilton has more catchy songs in my opinion, but In The Heights impressed me so much and gave me so much emotion that it is my current new obsession. Now, I have to listen to the soundtrack for the 96,000th time ;)