RubyMowzRulez Reviews

Encanto (2021)

Strong start but fumbles towards the end.

[7/10 · 29 December 2021]

I have very mixed feelings about this one. The set up for the plot has lots of interesting hooks, and there are some great songs along the way, but the 3rd act is sort of a mess with a resolution that doesn't feel earned, it's focus is too squarely on Mirabel leaving so little time for the rather large cast of characters to be anything other than quipping plot devices, which is itself a shame as some do feel like they had the potential to be very strong characters.

Bruno is a rather egregious example of this, receiving lots of build up and getting a strong introduction scene showing us what makes him interesting and then using none of that for the rest of the film, relegating him to a talking plot device who's 'arc' is solved in a verse within the last "Happy Ending" song.

The real problem however does lie in the films end for me. The very quick resolution to the films entire conflict was so anti climactic and seemingly had so many easy fixes. A single scene between Mirabel scolding Abuela and Abuela realizing she was in the wrong allowing the tension to breathe a bit would have so easily fixed this problem. Without anything like this though, the conflict feels sorta silly in retrospect and the Disney saccharine ending they normally manage to pull off feels unearned and cheesy, which is again a shame because the actual resolution scene of Abuela telling her story would have been genuinely touching had they solved the conflict in a less abrupt way.

As critical as I sound, I think this film had a lot of potential and was a joy to watch for most of it's duration, hence my rating. I also think it's worth at least one watch for anyone who loves Disney musicals. I think a sequel that told a tighter story could be an exciting thing and I wouldn't feel right in saying you should write this off as just another average Disney film, but at the same time I'm personally never going to watch this again and will stick to listening to it's soundtrack and skipping the finale track instead.

Wish Dragon (2021)

Almost reaches Pixar quality

[7/10 · 27 June 2021]

This film was certainly better than I anticipated (granted, I did not expect much) and had some genuinely touching moments and strong character arcs throughout, but certain other elements such as the villain and how many elements I've seen in stronger movies let it down.

While it does use many of the clichés and tropes Aladdin uses, it often subverts many of them at the same time, or explores sides of the idea of having wishes in ways Aladdin doesn't. Not all of these ideas land or fully work, but it certainly makes it feel mostly like a totally different film. The main characters are genuinely likeable and well voice acted, with clear and believable arcs throughout.

On the other hand, it fires off gags and jokes pretty often and while they usually aren't awful jokes, there's only a handful of really funny ones. Combine this with the cartoonish villain but more realistic main characters and storyline and it feels like a mashup in tone of a Pixar movie and a very average Dreamworks film.

Still, even the rather pointless villain shows some interesting creativity in the way he moves and fights, so even the parts that don't work glimmer with flashes of brilliance.

You'll probably never watch this more than once, but I think it gets a lot right and was so close to greatness and dripping with little things to like it's worth that one watch if you are into animated movies.

Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie (2016)

Disappointing; Only for die hard fans of the original series

[5/10 · 11 July 2016]

As a huge fan of Ab Fab I was looking forward to this a lot. What's more, I wasn't worried about the quality of the writing, as the special Olympic episodes merely a few years ago stood up to the original shows quality. I wouldn't say my expectations were particularly high nonetheless, I didn't expect anything groundbreaking, merely something in the range of The Last Stand or Gay. Alas, the film doesn't quite live up to any of that.

Overall, it ends up just being a homage to the original series. The majority of the screen time is stuffed with "LOOK! CELEBRITY CAMEO! YEAH WE GOT THEM!" or "HEY REMEMBER THAT ONE JOKE FROM THAT ONE EPISODE? HERES A REFERENCE TO THAT!" I came out of the theatre disappointed and just craving to go home and re-watch the original show.

Honestly, I think a huge part of it's weakness is it totally drops the strengths of the original series. Some of the original series funniest moments were it's overly dramatic monologues, laden with smart insults and often traded between Patsy/Saffy or Edina/Saffy. There isn't really any of that here.

If you are a huge fan like myself, I'd still recommend seeing it. I think, like me, you may end up disappointed, unless you are such a die hard fan you are blinded by the weaker writing quality, but it's still worth a watch to judge for yourself, and the film still has a couple moments worth seeing. It's not very long either, or at least doesn't feel too long, so at least you won't feel like you've wasted your time.

Either way, it's obvious this film is largely the result of a bet between Saunders and Dawn French. It lacks the soul of the original series, and while it isn't awful, it's just not good either.