Descendants : L'Ascension de Red

Not gonna lie, I was STUPID excited when I saw Brandy was going to be Cinderella. She's my favorite version of the character. I think I was more excited to see her than anything else. And I was happy they got Paolo Montalban to come back as Charming.

And I loved Jeremy Swift as Merlin. He was just like the one from Sword in the Stone. Made him a delight to watch.

For what it is, an adolescent fantasy movie, I really enjoyed it. Music had more of a rock feel then previous Descendants movies. Cast was fun to watch.

The writing could have used a little more work. Feels like they were trying a little bit too hard at times.

Says a lot about a film and its prospects when only 2 of the original cast are involved. Not only that it is flat from the get go that Kenny Ortega's directing/ choreography is not included in the film which just puts a dampener on the whole film. Overall the film isn't the most terrible thing to have ever watched and a good one for younger ones (watched with a 9 year old who loved it). Plot holes especially towards the end of the film and many things that just don't make sense. A highlight of the film was by far China Anne McClain's performance of Uma, very excited by the reprise of "What my name" from the second movie a great feature for older views who grew up watching the original film(s).

I LOVE the Disney Descendants movies. I'm a Disney adult 100%. But this hurts my heart.

You can definitely tell King Kenny Ortega was not apart of this on any capacity. It lacks all the heart that the first 3 movies had. It's sad because it could have been great, a continuation of a new idea of Disney's stories..

And all the influencers are making it out to be the best in the franchise.. I'm so disappointed.

It's rushed, lacking in chemistry, I don't care for any of the songs, and the story isn't well put together. It's almost like they wanted it to be Disney Descendants and heavily Hamilton. Less movie and more stage production being filmed.

Disney, bring back King Kenny!

This movie was so bad and gave me a headache. It is obviously nothing like the first 3 which is what I expected but I did not think it would be this bad. The plot makes absolutely no sense and completely goes against what was true in the originals. The music, acting, and directing is bad. Also the costumes were terrible which was something I really liked in 1,2,and3. Only thing I liked was that the original Uma and Fairy Godmother were in it. This movie was veryveyvegryyryverrryyyy disappointing and boring. I didn't even finish it bc I needed to turn it off. Also the sets were bad. And the movie felt uncomplete. Making this movie was completely unnecessary.

Positives are this movie is fun with good performances and lots of good musical moments.

It's costume designs and visuals are top tier for a straight to Disney+ movie, seriously the CGI was surprisingly good. (Like better than a lot of recent blockbusters I've seen) Rita Ora gives such a delicious performance as Queen of Hearts, she's the easy standout and has a real classic Disney villain vibe to her. The fun evil kind with a great evil laugh. Brandy as Cinderella is also amazing, she has a warmth and calmth that make her so motherly while also being so regal and her contrast with the Queen of Heart just works so well! The first Act of the movie sets up the plot well and was my favourite.

Negatives are well the writing and character actions are certainly off, particularly after Act 1. But what lets this movie down is the ending. Without spoiling, it's certainly not satisfying and makes you go wait it's over? While the cast are all teasing a sequel it makes me feel they rushed to the end and wasted lots of the build up throughout just for a potential to return to it later rather than properly fleshing out the story and developing it's new characters with the first movie. Every character feels underdeveloped and like they did very little because, in truth, very little actually happened.

Still though I'd recommend but I hope the sequel actually feels complete and doesn't opt for setting up a 3rd movie.