I have very mixed feelings about this one. The set up for the plot has lots of interesting hooks, and there are some great songs along the way, but the 3rd act is sort of a mess with a resolution that doesn't feel earned, it's focus is too squarely on Mirabel leaving so little time for the rather large cast of characters to be anything other than quipping plot devices, which is itself a shame as some do feel like they had the potential to be very strong characters.
Bruno is a rather egregious example of this, receiving lots of build up and getting a strong introduction scene showing us what makes him interesting and then using none of that for the rest of the film, relegating him to a talking plot device who's 'arc' is solved in a verse within the last "Happy Ending" song.
The real problem however does lie in the films end for me. The very quick resolution to the films entire conflict was so anti climactic and seemingly had so many easy fixes. A single scene between Mirabel scolding Abuela and Abuela realizing she was in the wrong allowing the tension to breathe a bit would have so easily fixed this problem. Without anything like this though, the conflict feels sorta silly in retrospect and the Disney saccharine ending they normally manage to pull off feels unearned and cheesy, which is again a shame because the actual resolution scene of Abuela telling her story would have been genuinely touching had they solved the conflict in a less abrupt way.
As critical as I sound, I think this film had a lot of potential and was a joy to watch for most of it's duration, hence my rating. I also think it's worth at least one watch for anyone who loves Disney musicals. I think a sequel that told a tighter story could be an exciting thing and I wouldn't feel right in saying you should write this off as just another average Disney film, but at the same time I'm personally never going to watch this again and will stick to listening to it's soundtrack and skipping the finale track instead.
Bruno is a rather egregious example of this, receiving lots of build up and getting a strong introduction scene showing us what makes him interesting and then using none of that for the rest of the film, relegating him to a talking plot device who's 'arc' is solved in a verse within the last "Happy Ending" song.
The real problem however does lie in the films end for me. The very quick resolution to the films entire conflict was so anti climactic and seemingly had so many easy fixes. A single scene between Mirabel scolding Abuela and Abuela realizing she was in the wrong allowing the tension to breathe a bit would have so easily fixed this problem. Without anything like this though, the conflict feels sorta silly in retrospect and the Disney saccharine ending they normally manage to pull off feels unearned and cheesy, which is again a shame because the actual resolution scene of Abuela telling her story would have been genuinely touching had they solved the conflict in a less abrupt way.
As critical as I sound, I think this film had a lot of potential and was a joy to watch for most of it's duration, hence my rating. I also think it's worth at least one watch for anyone who loves Disney musicals. I think a sequel that told a tighter story could be an exciting thing and I wouldn't feel right in saying you should write this off as just another average Disney film, but at the same time I'm personally never going to watch this again and will stick to listening to it's soundtrack and skipping the finale track instead.
Tell Your Friends