On July 31, Disney Channel premiered their summer Disney Channel Original Movie (DCOM), Descendants. Now if you've been watching Disney Channel for the past couple months, like myself, (don't judge, almost all of my shows are on hiatus and it makes good background noise) you would have noticed the commercial for it, since it played during every commercial break. Every. Commercial. Break. But anyways, their plan worked on me because I ended up watching it.
Now what is this Descendants movie you ask? Well it is the story of the children of the infamous villains: Jafar (Maz Jobrani), Cruella de Vil (Wendy Raquel Robinson), Evil Queen (Kathy Najimy) and Maleficent (Kristin Chenoweth). What a genius idea for a movie! Seeing the success of ABC's TV show, Once Upon A Time, it's no wonder they made a kid friendly/musical version of it. Now I didn't expect this movie to be a musical but I guess I should have realized that it would be since Kenny Ortega (High School Musical) was the director.
Descendants' interpretation of what happens after the classic Disney characters happy endings is quite interesting. Belle marries the Beast, and Beast unites all the kingdoms and become the United States of Auradon. So wouldn't that make Beast the President rather than King? Or has democracy not reached the fairytale lands yet? Anyways, all the villains were imprisoned on an island called Isle of the Lost which is surrounded by a magical barrier. Belle and Beast's son, Ben, is about to become king, which doesn't make sense seeing that his father is perfectly healthy and still on the young side. But anyways, his first royal proclamation is to give a chance to children of four villains to live in Auradon so they can find their inner goodness.
So Jay (Booboo Stewart), Carlos (Cameron Boyce), Evie (Sofia Carson) and Mal (Dove Cameron) find themsleves out of their homeland and now in the land of magic and happiness. But here's the catch Maleficent wants her daughter, Mal to steal the Fairy God Mother's magical wand, cause you know evil and taking over the world, blah blah blah, basic villain stuff.
When the kids get to Auradon they have their mind solely set on stealing the wand, making their parents proud and getting back home. Because who would want to deal with the children of the princes, princesses and other lovable classic characters? Some of those children turn out not to be as nice as their parents. But the love story between star crossed lovers Mal and Prince Ben certainly changes the dynamic of the movie.
Overall the story was great and it was enjoyable to watch. It gives a great perspective on good vs evil and setting the idea that just because you're supposed to be something because it is in your blood doesn't mean you have to be. You decide your own fate. The movie was adorable and those outfits were just to die for and they really capture each character's personality and traits. While the characters evolve so do their clothes.
The only thing that wasn't mind-blowing or fantastic was the music, which is disappointing because Kenny Ortega films normally have great music. Rotten to the Core was the opening number and introduced the viewers to the Isle of the Lost and it was by far the catchiest tune. However as expected, Kristin Chenoweth's phenomenal Broadway voice and talent was showcased and even Dove Cameron proved that she could keep up and displayed lots of talent musically and theatrically. But other than that the music was disappointing and not necessary. Most of the time the music was just a distraction, boring and painful to watch.
Disney fans will appreciate the references to the classic films in the movie. The children from heroes like Mulan, Cinderella, Aurora, Fairy God Mother and even Dopey have kids that attend the school as well. There are artifacts from several Disney films, like: the magic wand, the magic mirror, the spinning wheel, and etc, appear as well. For all we know there's probably a hidden Mickey or two in the film somewhere.
Is Descendants the next High School Musical or Camp Rock? There's a 50/50 chance. Based on Dove Cameron's performance, she has what it takes to rise to Teen Idol status. And based on the little twist at the end of the movie there should be a sequel in the works.
What did you think of Descendants?
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