I will watch documentaries on practically anything, even subjects I'd otherwise have no contact with. Menudo is a great case in point; it's not my style of music whatsoever, but the series interested me a lot. I see complaints of over-long documentary series by posters here all the time, but this felt well paced to me. For a band that had a concept of replaceable parts with its members, the director did a really good job of making every member who appeared on camera feel as distinct individuals. The purpose of the series was to shine a light on the exploitative manager of the band's management (and it does a very good job of that), but I would have liked a little more information about the band itself in places (there is almost no information about the songs themselves. Did any of them reach the Top 40? Did each iteration of the band perform the same songs or did they keep making new music?).
2 Reviews
Menudo Forever Young HBO Max Docu-Series Review
FlorenceSharpair13 January 2023
Warning: Spoilers
I have always been hyped when it comes to boy bands so hearing this was definitely something. I know most people reading this review have already watched the documentary, so you already know what the "crazy" part is, but it's actually not that.
Don't get me wrong this docu-series was nice and was very much needed. Especially for the fans that have been around through it all, and like some of the members stated "you all deserve to know the truth" so they executed with just that, but the crazy part for me is that since I've researched menudo and know so much, I found this to be incomplete and half-done. Firstly, where are the remaining members? I know MDO and the 2010 Menudo were a little different, but it still would've been nice to hear from them. How come the rest of the golden boys (Rene Farrait, Miguel Cancel, Charlie Masso) were not present? Especially Charlie because he, like Robby Rosa (Draco) and Ricky Martin, stayed a lot longer than the other guys at that time. Also, Roy Rosello, he was the one that suffered a lot as well, but he wasn't in here to talk about it and that just felt off to me. Another thing I disliked about the documentary is the lack of conversations on what it was like being signed to RCA records, especially knowing who THAT record executive was who got them signed and managed them daily from 1983 to 86-87. However, despite my mini complaints I really really enjoyed this, I will definitely recommend this to my friends and to anyone who is interested in Pop Culture, Menudo, and Boy Bands.
Awesome Series Nonetheless.
Don't get me wrong this docu-series was nice and was very much needed. Especially for the fans that have been around through it all, and like some of the members stated "you all deserve to know the truth" so they executed with just that, but the crazy part for me is that since I've researched menudo and know so much, I found this to be incomplete and half-done. Firstly, where are the remaining members? I know MDO and the 2010 Menudo were a little different, but it still would've been nice to hear from them. How come the rest of the golden boys (Rene Farrait, Miguel Cancel, Charlie Masso) were not present? Especially Charlie because he, like Robby Rosa (Draco) and Ricky Martin, stayed a lot longer than the other guys at that time. Also, Roy Rosello, he was the one that suffered a lot as well, but he wasn't in here to talk about it and that just felt off to me. Another thing I disliked about the documentary is the lack of conversations on what it was like being signed to RCA records, especially knowing who THAT record executive was who got them signed and managed them daily from 1983 to 86-87. However, despite my mini complaints I really really enjoyed this, I will definitely recommend this to my friends and to anyone who is interested in Pop Culture, Menudo, and Boy Bands.
Awesome Series Nonetheless.
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