2/5 stars
Caution: spoilers ahead.
Disney’s latest musical animation ‘Encanto’ misses the mark in a variety of ways. From a soundtrack that falls flat and a plot that lacks depth and detail.
A first for Disney is that the film is set entirely in Colombia, South America. It is refreshing to see Disney delve more into Latin American culture. They previously explored this in Coco (2017) which colourfully looks at Mexican culture and Day of the Dead.
The plot focuses the Madrigal family and their magical house, which grants the family’s children gifts. With these, they help the townspeople of ‘Encanto’.
Despite every other child having a magical gift, the film’s focus is primarily on Mirabel (Stephanie Beatriz) who is the only child to have not been bestowed with a gift. We see how she is segregated by her grandmother from the rest of the family, but when she notices that the magic is starting to fail, she sets out to find out why.
A common theme that runs through the film’s soundtrack is that of pressure and how the children feel like they must portray a certain image of themselves. Evidently seen in the fourth song “Surface Pressure” sang by middle child Luisa (Jessica Darrow) who has the gift of super strength. This track explores how she tries to live up to her grandmother’s – Alma (María Cecilia Botero) – high expectations.
In terms of the soundtrack, the film fell flat with only two tracks hitting the mark. Those were “Surface Pressure” (previously mentioned) and fan favourite “We don’t talk about Bruno”. The latter is an upbeat way to introduce the ominous and absent family member Bruno Madrigal (John Leguizamo) who is thought to have run away from the family after he saw a vision of the future that ended in the magic of the Encanto falling apart – turns out he was living in the walls of the family home!
The opening song “The family Madrigal” explains who’s who and what their respective gifts are – a song that is necessary for context but fails to get a viewer hooked and excited.
When compared to other opening numbers such as Hercules’ “The Gospel Truth” and Princess and the Frogs’ “Down in New Orleans”, Encanto’s opening song doesn’t provide the same intrigue and excitement that these do.
With a total runtime of one hour and 49 minutes, it often feels like they could’ve have explored certain plot details further. I would love to have seen more of the grandmother’s past and the conflict she was escaping as this is what leads to ‘Encanto’ being created.
Encanto is available to stream on Disney+. Subscription required.
コメント