In The Heights is a musical that came from the mind of Lin-Manuel Miranda. He was behind Hamilton and was also in the sequel to Mary Poppins, Mary Poppins Returns. He had the idea for this film when he was at the age of nineteen in college.
In The Heights is about a man named, Usnavi (Anthony Ramos) who is dreaming of working at his fathers old bar in the Dominican Republic. At the moments, he lives in Washington Heights in New York City with many other immigrants from Dominican Republic. He makes plans to buy the old bar but a love interest (Melissa Barrera) and also family are both standing between him and his dream.
When I heard about this film back in twenty nineteen I didn't really know what to think. I have never seen Hamilton so I am not really too familiar with Lin-Manuel Miranda's music style. So I didn't know how the music was going to end up being in the film. I also had no clue who the director was (John M. Cho). So I was naturally just thinking it was going to be alright and I walked out of the theater thinking it was a little above that standard. I was humming the opening number quite frequently the rest of the day. That was really the only song I came away with remembering. The music was good though. Nothing made me wince of look around the theater awkwardly like in the Momma Mia movies. The film ended up being a fun time. That was what I was expecting and that is what it delivered. It is by no means at the same level was West Side Story which is what Lin-Manuel Miranda looked at for inspiration. The songs even crammed in many conversation traits just as West Side Story did. He ended up going for more of a modern day feel with much of the music he wrote for the film. There was always a bass drum of beat you hear in many modern day songs. I didn't really make the songs bad or boring but I didn't really allow any of them to stand out besides for the opening and I guess one towards the end of the film called "Carnival." But the setting that was somewhat created felt really realistic. Sort of like Do The Right Thing. That movie had a town that you feel like you lived in and I would be stunned if Lin-Manuel Miranda says he has never seen that film before just because of how similar the town felt. The main plot wasn't anything out of the ordinary for a musical. Someone loves someone and she or he gets in the way of one of their dreams but then they realize love is more important that anything you can buy. So nothing with the plot structure and it was executed pretty much the same way you would think it would turn out besides for some events towards the end of the film. So that made the film feel a little predictable, but it didn't make the movie bad because of the setting and the songs did end up propelling the story a little farther.
The acting was above par with most musicals. Most of the time it looks terrible when actors are trying to sing along to someone else singing the song like Little Shop Of Horrors. They went above that and sang their own songs. Which apparently Mary Poppins Returns also did which is pretty cool. They topped West Side Story with that. Otherwise, there wasn't much emotional acting required because most of it was told through song which it should be in a musical.
The other problem I had with the film was the transitions. They would often go from a dark scene to an incredibly bright scene and it would make you blink. Or going from a quiet scene to a loud scene. That would ruin the mood or upset the viewers eyes. It was just really annoying. Editors have been getting more careless in recent movies. They need to try to make their editing more like the Duffer Brothers. They were behind the show Stranger Things and they would ease you into a scene perfectly. More movies need to take notes from that show and especially this one.
In The Heights was a blast of a movie that sadly didn't really leave any songs to remember and had some sloppy transitions. I would recommend In The Heights to anybody who like musicals or has seen Hamilton.
In The Heights is about a man named, Usnavi (Anthony Ramos) who is dreaming of working at his fathers old bar in the Dominican Republic. At the moments, he lives in Washington Heights in New York City with many other immigrants from Dominican Republic. He makes plans to buy the old bar but a love interest (Melissa Barrera) and also family are both standing between him and his dream.
When I heard about this film back in twenty nineteen I didn't really know what to think. I have never seen Hamilton so I am not really too familiar with Lin-Manuel Miranda's music style. So I didn't know how the music was going to end up being in the film. I also had no clue who the director was (John M. Cho). So I was naturally just thinking it was going to be alright and I walked out of the theater thinking it was a little above that standard. I was humming the opening number quite frequently the rest of the day. That was really the only song I came away with remembering. The music was good though. Nothing made me wince of look around the theater awkwardly like in the Momma Mia movies. The film ended up being a fun time. That was what I was expecting and that is what it delivered. It is by no means at the same level was West Side Story which is what Lin-Manuel Miranda looked at for inspiration. The songs even crammed in many conversation traits just as West Side Story did. He ended up going for more of a modern day feel with much of the music he wrote for the film. There was always a bass drum of beat you hear in many modern day songs. I didn't really make the songs bad or boring but I didn't really allow any of them to stand out besides for the opening and I guess one towards the end of the film called "Carnival." But the setting that was somewhat created felt really realistic. Sort of like Do The Right Thing. That movie had a town that you feel like you lived in and I would be stunned if Lin-Manuel Miranda says he has never seen that film before just because of how similar the town felt. The main plot wasn't anything out of the ordinary for a musical. Someone loves someone and she or he gets in the way of one of their dreams but then they realize love is more important that anything you can buy. So nothing with the plot structure and it was executed pretty much the same way you would think it would turn out besides for some events towards the end of the film. So that made the film feel a little predictable, but it didn't make the movie bad because of the setting and the songs did end up propelling the story a little farther.
The acting was above par with most musicals. Most of the time it looks terrible when actors are trying to sing along to someone else singing the song like Little Shop Of Horrors. They went above that and sang their own songs. Which apparently Mary Poppins Returns also did which is pretty cool. They topped West Side Story with that. Otherwise, there wasn't much emotional acting required because most of it was told through song which it should be in a musical.
The other problem I had with the film was the transitions. They would often go from a dark scene to an incredibly bright scene and it would make you blink. Or going from a quiet scene to a loud scene. That would ruin the mood or upset the viewers eyes. It was just really annoying. Editors have been getting more careless in recent movies. They need to try to make their editing more like the Duffer Brothers. They were behind the show Stranger Things and they would ease you into a scene perfectly. More movies need to take notes from that show and especially this one.
In The Heights was a blast of a movie that sadly didn't really leave any songs to remember and had some sloppy transitions. I would recommend In The Heights to anybody who like musicals or has seen Hamilton.