Leo

Don't make it a musical if it doesn't make sense for it to be one! Sigh... anyway, this wasn't as bad as it seemed to be gearing up to be, there are some cute gags here and there and some of the writing was somewhat decent, but it's mediocre overall.

Kinda shocking it’s taken this long for Adam Sandler to make a musical. Wish it looked a little better and dug a little deeper, but it’s a charming diversion.

It’s a bummer that the last half-hour of Leo falls prey to the stock tropes of typical third-act family movie shenanigans because before that, this is alarmingly close to being genuinely great. I could probably count on one hand the number of 2023 films that made me laugh more than this one and I found myself more emotionally invested than I ever would have expected from an Adam Sandler Netflix movie.

There are some sweet moments and decent messages here, but the story lacks heart and soul: both of which are desperately needed.

Leo is a cute and colourful film that reinforces positive behaviour in young children through open dialogue. The humour works fairly well. Sandler's voice is recognisable, for better or for worse. The action verges on silly, but is on par for an animated film in which a lizard talks to children. The songs aren't great, and are quite frequent, but props for not going the established route of just using generic pop songs.

Had it not been for the lame music, I would have liked it even more. The manipulative lizard had some heart. Maybe they just should have gone for "Holding out for a Hero" like just about every other animated movie have done this past year.

Fun and cute, but dragged down by too many terrible cringeworthy songs.

rvw

Leo is full of heart, humor, and many lessons on improving ourselves, from all angles, and for all walks of life. Netflix has a winner.

Sweet to a degree, but nothing overly memorable.