Friday, July 12, 2024

Descendants: The Rise of Red (2024)

 
 
Streaming Service: Disney+
Movie Name/Year: Descendants: The Rise of Red (2024)
Genre: Fantasy, Musical, Adventure, Family
Length: 1h 31min
Rating: TV-G
irector: Jennifer Phang
Writers: Dan Frey, Ru Sommer, Lewis Carroll
Actors: Brandy Norwood, China Anne McClain, Rita Ora, Joshua Colley, Jeremy Swift, Kylie Cantrall, Ruby Rose Turner, Leonardo Nam, Malia Baker, Melanie Paxson, Grace Narducci, Paolo Montalban, Sam Morelos, Alex Boniello, Anthony Pyatt, Dara ReneƩ, Mars, Julee Cerda, Peder Lindell, Shazia Pascal, Morgan Dudley, Tristan Padil, Kabir Bery, Levin Valayil, Aiza Azaar
 
IMDb Blurb: Follows Red, daughter of the Queen of Hearts, and Chloe, daughter of Cinderella, as they team up to save Auradon by traveling in back in time using the White Rabbit's pocket watch, to stop an event that would cause grave consequences.
 
 
Cat’s Point of View:
As predicted, my daughter was fairly chomping at the bit to watch this latest Descendants movie with me. Mission accomplished, and we were both pleased with the experience.
 
Let's dig a little deeper into that, though.
 
While, overall, we were happy with the overall experience of Descendants: The Rise of Red, it certainly wasn't a perfect movie. That being said, I have a feeling that it may be judged too harshly by critics – and, perhaps, even Disney fans, alike. The majority of the original characters that captured the hearts and imagination of their audience did not carry over to this new installment, and the general vibe of the film was slightly different.
 
 
Both aspects should have been expected, however, with a change in director and the tragic loss of a cast member in reality taken into consideration. I think the production team for this new story actually handled it rather well. Descendants: The Rise of Red made a point to honor their fallen cast member within the story, and not even in a subtle way (even if details were omitted). The story even carried forward the central theme of the prior movies where the status quo gets shaken up in the name of giving the children of villains (or in this case, a particular villain) a chance for redemption rather than inheriting the sins of their parents.
 
 
There might have been a few hiccups in the plot; however, I couldn't really call them plot holes until the full story is played out. While Disney hasn't confirmed any details regarding a follow-up movie, the story within Rise of Red makes it very clear that this particular tale isn't exactly over.
 
I also have a suspicion that theatrical blockbuster expectations have been placed on a movie within a series originally designed as a Disney Channel made-for-TV experience. All told, the effects were on-par with the previous movies, the set pieces were as colorful and interesting as ever, and over all held up to the concept of being a part of a fairy-tale universe. Was everything spectacularly successful? Maybe not, but honestly, unless someone was watching just to find the problems, I don't see them as being that glaring or distracting from the experience it was meant to be.
 
 
In usual Disney style, there were songs, everyone was dancing, and there were some life lessons and questions of morals and ethics posed in hopes of making you weigh it out and think about it.
 
Descendants: The Rise of Red successfully proved that it would be possible to continue this franchise as long as the narrative stays true to the heart of the movies that have come before.
 
 
Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score – None
Rotten Tomatoes Audience Score – 47%
Metascore – None
Metacritic User Score – 2.3/10
IMDB Score – 4.6/10
 
Trust the Dice: Cat’s Rating – 3.5/5
 
Movie Trailer:

No comments:

Post a Comment