Encanto. Disney’s movie featuring a girl with no gifts (magical talents) but who’s family all have gifts. I’d heard this movie was good and I really wanted to like it. I promise! I mean, when is the last time Disney let us down, you know? OK, I remember Ralph Breaks the Internet and Frozen II but still, Disney is usually putting out good stuff! So just like the rebellious kids in Dangerous Minds when Michelle Pfeiffer announced they were starting the class with A’s and all they had to do was work to keep the A, Encanto already had my approval, it just had to keep it.
Unfortunately, the first 10 or 15 minutes lost me almost completely… for two reasons.
- The lyrics in the first couple of songs were very hard to follow. Honestly, I had no idea what the young girl was singing/talking about. So it wasn’t until after all the gibberish that I had any idea about what was going on.
- The magical house. There was also the issue of the “magical powers” building a house for the family. Not only that, but those powers could allow the members of the family to do almost anything at any time. This bores me to no end.
Even with this disappointing introduction to the animated family, I watched all the way through. I wanted it to keep the A it started with, or at this point it’s more truthful to say I wanted the movie to get back to the A it started with. Throughout the film, there were moments of humor (not enough). The plot was OK (not explained well enough). The music was really good (in spite of the disastrous opening songs).
By the end, I sort of understood what it was all about and I’ll be generous by giving it a C grade. Well, I would’ve given it a C until the last few minutes when the family is rejoicing together again. Remember that magical house? Well, it was destroyed. The community joined together like it was an episode of Extreme Makeover Home Editon and built them a new house in a few weeks or less. Ty would have been so proud. It would’ve been a sweet moment to end on but then…
All of the sudden the floor tiles sprang to life like they did often in the magical house. Wait, what? I thought the magic was gone? Now, without explanation, it’s back? That completely ruins the entire “moral of the story” of the movie!
To sum up, I give this movie a 4/10 because of these few positive things: the animation was great and the animals were cute and mostly cuddly. That’s it.
Have you watched it yet? If so, share your thoughts and reviews below. Like I said, I really wanted to like it, but I just can’t help but want to watch it never again.
-Out of the Wilderness
Out of the Wilderness 