In the Heights has a few false starts, but it soon builds a compelling momentum and hits its stride in a series of attention-grabbing group numbers that really make the film. Despite clocking in at 2hrs and 20mins "momentum" is the key word here and the film gathers no moss, constantly driven forward by the exuberance of its music and cast. Even at its darkest this is an irrepressibly joyous film. Musically there is a great similarity to Hamilton, something that will doubtlessly appeal to fans of Lin-Manuel Miranda, though there is a Schuyler Sister quality to the vocals of female leads Leslie Grace and Melissa Barrera that’s more suited to the Revolutionary War than a hard-by borough of New York.
Special effects are used sparingly in this one, allowing the unfiltered crowd scenes and group dance numbers to take the centre stage and fill the screen with colour and life. In the Heights manages to capture that fantastic merging of impossibility and reality that all great musicals share. The narrative is a bit by-the-numbers, but the story never sticks on a point long enough for it to outstay its welcome. There are a few unwelcome diversions and seemingly unconnected scenes that gives a film a bit of unnecessary padding, but they never dominate the film. Slick camerawork and audio mixing that does the music justice complete the piece.
This is a real juggernaut of a film, once it gets going it's hard to stop, and it's very hard not to like it.