Descendants – A Musical Fantasy
In present-day Auradon, Ben, the teenaged son of King “Beast” and Queen Belle, is poised to take the throne. He offers a chance for redemption to the trouble-making teenaged descendants of defeated villains exiled to the remote Isle of the Lost. The villains’ descendants have been granted permission to attend prep school in the kingdom with the Disney heroes’ kids.
- Descendants
By Brooke S., KIDS FIRST! Film Critic, Age 9
Descendants is a Disney Film, directed Kenny Ortega. It is a musical film about four descendants of Disney’s most infamous villains: Mal (Dove Cameron), the daughter of Maleficent (Kristin Chenoweth), Carlos (Cameron Boyce), son of Cruella De Vil (Wendy Raquel Robinson), Evie (Sophia Carson), daughter of Evil Queen (Kathy Najimy) and Jay (Booboo Stewart), son of Jafar (Maz Jobrani). Ben (Mitchell Hope), the son of Belle (Keegan Connor Tracy) and Beast (Dan Payne), wants to give the children of the villains an opportunity to live a different life than their parents. He wants them to work at being good versus evil. However, Ben’s parents do not feel the same way. They do not think it is possible for the kids to change, since they were raised by evil parents. Maleficent appears to be the leader of the villains and she sees this as an opportunity for their kids to go to the Kingdom to steal something that will give them more power.
The film takes place at the Kingdom where the good Disney heroes live and the Isle of the Lost where the villains live. The kids of the Kingdom attend a prep school. This is where the descendants will stay while working on their character flaws. Once the kids are at the Kingdom, they find it difficult to fit in. Mal, is not too happy there. She wants to make her mom proud and will do anything to do so. The longer the Descendants stay, the more they change. In the end, you will see if they change for better or worse.
Descendants is an incredible film. It is filled with action, comedy, drama, music and dancing. I laughed at some parts and even cried at others. The singing is outstanding! I love every song and will purchase the soundtrack. The choreography is filled with tons of energy. The cinematography is excellent as well. The film is bright, fun and very colorful. Mr. Kenny Ortega directs the film and also choreographs the dances. He is one of the most talented people in the world. Mr. Ortega does an amazing job making sure the actors stayed true to their characters.
I do not have a favorite part of the film. The entire film is spectacular! My favorite character is Mal. I like her because she is not afraid to express herself and she doesn’t care what other people think of her. She is fearless, strong and beautiful. Dove Cameron is superb in the film. She makes her character seem so real and relatable. I think the entire cast did an awesome job in their roles.
The message in the film is: Do what your heart says and not what others say.
I recommend this movie for ages 6 – 18 and also adults. I rate the movie 5 out of 5 sparkling gold stars! It will be playing on the Disney Channel beginning July 31, 2015.
