Directed By: Jon M. Chu
Directing – 6
Jon M. Chu did a solid job directing this film. I believe what was able to capture, he did a remarkable job with. However, the film itself it feels tends to substitute smaller quiet scenes for more extreme musical elements. I also got the argument that “It was a musical, so it had to be filled with tons of musical elements.” I understand that, but there comes a point where it becomes a little too redundant with those elements in particular. When I said I wanted quieter scenes, I would sit there and wait for more of those scenes in order for me to connect with the characters, but then a song would break out and I would get disappointed at the end of the day. I do think John M. Chu did a solid job directing and a lot of its filmmaking and musical elements are incredible. I just felt in terms of a well-paced, structured, and enthralling narrative, the film didn’t do that for me. Also, the film is 2 hours and 23 minutes. I believe. It did not need to be that long.
Cinematography – 10
The cinematography was excellent. I thought the camera movements, the lighting, and the framing were all executed brilliantly.
Score – 10
The music is indeed spectacular and incredible. Believe me, when I say the picture itself didn’t do everything for me, the music was still amazing.
Story – 6
The story follows Usnavi as he tells the story of the neighborhood to his children, and the memories he made of said neighborhood. This is another element I had major issues with. I said the film was a bit redundant on its musical elements, I still stand by that. I feel the story goes to many different places. We tend to have more main characters than we actually should and I feel it tends to get a little messy with that. We should mainly be focusing on Usnavi and his story, but then we tend to see all these other characters and they have their own story within the film and it isn’t hard to keep track, but it tends to be a little more like: Okay, who’s story is really being told here? The music is written well and there are stories being told within its music, I just felt that we could have used a lot quieter scenes to tell its story than just song and dance for almost its entire runtime.
Post – Production – 8
The editing and the effects are handled incredibly well. I would say this film could have been cut by maybe 20-30 minutes possibly.
Entertainment – 7
Is this film bad? No. I do not think this is a bad movie. I understand why many people love this movie; however, it didn’t really do it all for me.
Final Rating
7.8/10 – An Okay Movie.
