My 400th Review: Encanto · 6:08pm Aug 30th, 2022
Rating Scale:
12/10—a complete masterpiece; flawless and outstanding
11/10—Excellent, near-perfect film
10/10—the standard rating; awesome film with a couple of flaws
9/10—a wonderful film with several flaws
8/10–a great film with numerous flaws but not enough to ruin it
7/10—a fun and entertaining movie; not great but still enjoyable
6/10—a slightly above average film; it is something I might watch again
5/10—mediocre movie; not awful but not great either
4/10—a below average film; it could have been much better
3/10—a bad film; poorly written and poorly executed
2/10—a very bad movie; the few good things in the movie overshadowed by the bad things
1/10—a terrible movie; a total waste of time
0/10—a worthless piece of abomination; should have never been made
I did it! Oh, yes, I did it! I have finally reached to 400 reviews, ladies and gentlemen!! Yepeee! To celebrate this big moment, I present to you all my review of Disney's Encanto from 2021! This was honestly quite an amazing movie to watch; it has well-written character development, great music, solid chemistry, an engaging and exciting plot, and beautiful animation. This could very well be on par with The Lion King and a few other classic Disney films for these very qualities that it contains. Although I wouldn't call it the best modern Disney movie, I prefer to look upon it as a gem that will be remembered for the ages to come that both kids and adults alike will both love and enjoy.
This film is about a large Colombian family of multiple generations whose children and grandchildren receive magical abilities to help them serve their rural community called the Encanto--except for Mirabel Madrigal. Once she discovers that her family is slowly losing their magic, including their house, she tries her best to bring them together to restore the magic.
As I already mentioned, the animation was just beautifully well-crafted. The animation models for the characters were likewise solid so that their own personalities would fit well.
Speaking of which, almost every character were well-written in every step of the way; Mirabel was kinda relatable in terms of not feeling very special and always eager to make a positive difference in the family and everywhere one goes. I feel like this is something that every family needs to see and be reminded of when it comes to maintaining the peaceful balance, so to speak. We can get so caught up in trying to be perfect or trying to do what is best for the family without realizing that it is very easy to hurt our family through our negative influence. Some members of our family circle, such as Abuela Alma Madrigal, can be unaware of what harm they're bringing to our family even if they're trying to do what they think is right. So I love the way the writers wrote her character in this movie. In this story, there are no villains or antagonists. The only antagonists this family had...was doubt, selfishness, and fear. Seriously, the writing is just brilliant.
I can't say for certain which song is my favorite because every one of them were pretty great in their own way. I will say though that "We Don't Talk About Bruno" was a little catchy to some degree.
Lastly, the voice acting was quite splendid from start to finish. Stephanie Beatriz, John Leguizamo, and Maria Cecilia Botero stood out the most to me for their amazing voice performances. So while the movie itself was pretty much amazing for its wonderful story-telling, animation, voice acting, and character chemistry, I am not entirely fond of every musical number and every character despite that they were all well-written. I just don't have a favorite, that's all. So with that said, I will rate this a solid 10/10!
Peace out, folks!
Haven't seen the movies yet, but from what I have seen and heard about it. It looks like an enjoyable movie to watch
I've been planning on reviewing this movie myself for quite a long time. I saw it two or three times before, and I remembered enjoying it immensely.
With the movie being one about family, I'm definitely gonna review it for the Thanksgiving season.
Stephanie Beatriz sure can sing! I mean, we heard her sing in The Lego Movie 2, but this movie has her show off her pipes!
Firstly, congrats on your 400th review! You deserve it
. Second, prepare for a long comment because this movie gave me a lot of thoughts!
I adore this movie, really. It´s on my top 10. As you said, the story is very beautiful, and while I usually complain about the lack of villains, this story didn´t need one. Like Turning Red, it is a story of intergenerational trauma but it hits harder home. I am not Colombian but I read that the conlflict that forced Abuela Alma (who by the way has the same as my mom!) is the Thousand Days war, a war that happened between 1899 and 1902. And sadly, Latin America is still going through similar conflicts to the point that is very dangerous living there. My mom actually had to go to the US because my grandfather, who worked for the government at the time, didn´t agree with the corruption and nepotism, and felt their lives were threatened. This harms families but this movie shows us that there´s hope for a better future and healing
. It does feel like a love letter to Colombia and not like a touristic advert.
The characters were really well written too. It would have been super easy to make Abuela Alma a Mother Gothel esque villain but instead is a very realistic character who only wants the best for her family but accidentally hurts them in the process. All characters are super relatable: you can relate to Mirabel due to her not feeling special, you can relate to Luisa´s stress, Isabela´s pressure to be perfect, Pepa´s pressure to be happy all the time, Bruno being misunderstood, Dolores´ hearing hypersensitivity... Voice acting superb too. Everyone did great but I must say that Stephanie Beatriz does have a lot of range!
As always, Lin Manuel Miranda´s work is excellent, I´m still addicted to the songs, especially We don´t talk about Bruno, but Germaine Franco did a marvelous soundtrack as well. The music in the scene when Antonio gets his gift made me feel like I was watching a Disney Rennaisance movie and not a new one. It reminded me to the Lion King, and that´s because it is based in Pacific Colombia, with lots of African influence in that area´s culture.
This gorgeous movie has definitely impacted everyone. It has inspired me a lot in my writing too! So glad you reviewed this movie and that you enjoyed it.
(Gonna do two comments in terms of celebration. ;3)
Congrats on your 400th review, Mr. J! :D
Say Mr. J.... did you know that Bruno's original name was actually gonna be Oscar? :)
5683004
That’s new to me.
I know you said that you weren't interested at the time, but...I deeply hope you can check out Disney's "Raya and the Last Dragon" someday.
5683012
Well.... famed Lin-Manuel Miranda (of Hamilton Musical fame =3) suggested that his name would be Bruno instead, mainly because to of course rhyme with the following verse in the We Don't Talk About Bruno song:
"We don't talk about Bruno-no-no-no"
5683022
Now that’s interesting.
5683015
I can’t guarantee you that I’ll check it out. I might change my mind, but right now, I’m currently not in a mood for it.
5683032
It’s alright. You don’t have to watch and review it right away. Whenever you’re ready would be nice.
5683032
Yep =3