Hello again my fellows. I have come heralding me thoughts on a movie that left such distaste in me mouth I made the effort to warn y’all of a movie that shouldn’t exist. A movie so bland you’d wish you’d never sat ya booty down to even pay any mind to this empty experience! It is the epitome of pathetic especially from a studio with so much prestige; so much talent, it’s a shame something so narratively empty came from the minds of Disney. Heed my words I foretell the sins of this time waster called “Encanto” so you can experience the blandness of this movie.

So what is “Encanto” and it’s premise as per usual so I can get it through ya thick skulls what a travesty this is to watch. As the name surmises, “Encanto” revolves around a charm and ya wanna know what this charm does? This charm grants specialties to each family member if successful. After about three generations I presume, the power of the candle is waning and causing great distress to the family and in the center of this conflict is the failure, the main character, Mirabel, though I ain’t feeling any inclination to mention her name as she is one of the failing factors of this movie, but to keep tops of your heads screwed to your neck, I will do so for your sake for her name is already slipping my mind as we delve deeper into this muck filled trench.

As we wade through this muck, I’ll tear apart into pieces for y’all who have joy of not experiencing this mess and what pops right into me mind is the very setting Encanto takes place in and how replaceable it is. To further your understanding, where Encanto starts is in  some valley during a violent civil war in Colombia. To many of ya younglings that might peak your over active minds because even my scarred brain gave a little attention to the very beginning of the movie, but ya know what these hack writers do with that curiosity. They crush it. And how do they do it? Never does the civil war ever have any precedence in the plot except for setting up minor plot points because they fast forward into a peaceful future like it never happened and furthermore any hopes of seeing anymore of this world is destroyed because it all takes place in a magical house. There was potential in having a grand house to explore with very unique properties, but they take the magic out of it by making it a very ordinary house that can do magical things such as move it’s tiles or move a chair and steals a page out of Moana by pretending to have consciousness like the water, but unlike the water, it overstays its welcome by being a constant on screen raising the same questions just like Moana and losing its novelty as a companion unlike Moana. Though there are magical rooms that are tailored towards the personalities and powers of the characters, it’s nearly irrelevant due to a lack of exploration of those rooms and the role they play in the story. Now the very problem with this setting is that it completely nullifies the purpose of having a story like this take place in Colombia, with the only thing to come out of is the vibrant and colorful nature and architecture and an excuse to mix Spanish into the dub. To understand how much of a waste this is, let’s look back at what Disney’s Coco did well. One of the most vital things about Coco is the setting, almost like a living organism throughout the story that not only motivates, but also hinders. The premise of Coco was that a kid wants to play music, but the burden of family prevents his crusades upon the arts, and the setting was so vital because it plays into the world of the dead very nicely as the very environment he lived in drew him towards music and without that exposure there would be no plot line. Without that connection to the setting, the characters have to bear the weight, but it’s a shame to say, the characters are a failure in this aspect too. 

So what do the characters offer? Nothing! That is what they have to offer. How can such colorful looking characters have nothing to offer? Because the writers wrote too many side characters that their relationship to the main character ends up being pointless. It’s like these characters were written by children because their powers are their personalities with no depth behind these sorry facades. For example, there’s a buff girl character, and guess her personality? It’s all about being strong, and they try to build depth through a song about how she needs to be strong for others, yet never does she exhibit anything else besides strength. So when the magic is weakening, guess what her concern is? Having trouble carrying some sheep acting like a big baby, mind you this is a supposed be a teen. It’s repulsive how infantilizing the personalities, though it’s played for laughs, the audience’s ability to empathize with the characters greatly reduced as it’s more so dumb that she cries over challenges, challenges that we all faced in our youth, so seeing someone cry over challenge makes ‘em gosh darn pathetic. And it’s not just these characters, these childish personalities carry over to all the side characters. There’s another family member with the ability to control plants and ya know what her conflict be!? It’s trying to be perfect all the time, and this is reflected, and rightfully so, at the main character for being a useless klutz. Though there could’ve been intrigue by elevating the conflict between the two characters and each one proving their value, but instead years of jealousy and constant disdain are subsided after a conversation because what the flower power girl really wants is freedom to be careless like her sister. It’s barely any better than the previous example and this plot line has been played out way too many times to garner any attention. You might not believe me when I say this problem is a constant throughout this story, so let’s pull out one of their slightly better written characters that is a bit of an outlier. Bruno is the main comic relief character in this movie, though there’s so many comically bad jokes that detract from the skinny skeleton of this movie that comedy might as well not exist. One of the good things about Bruno is this build up of having betrayed the family and done something unspeakable, but guess what his sin is? His prophecies coming true, and the idea of his ostracization is interesting, as people believe that his fortune telling is the cause of all this bad fortune and putting him at fault causing him to hide within the walls of the house. You know what the problem is with this? They never come back to it. Well that would be a lie, but the fact that the ostracization is never touched upon outside of an apology makes it seem contrived, and this character was such a missed opportunity. Bruno could’ve been made an antagonist instead. What the writers could’ve done was made him irresponsible or evil as access to abilities beyond one’s wildest dreams could have made for a unique plot line, but instead we’re stuck with another character exuding lameness which extends to the main character. The worst aspect of this movie is the not magical Mirabel as she offers nothing of interest in this movie. She’s a klutz, she’s jealous, and is constantly on screen. Mirabel goes through this whole entire movie without change. She doesn’t find a way to make herself useful. She is unable to save the miracle. She is only driven to save and correct the family. Never does she have to extend herself and though she tries, it never goes anywhere because she’s slow and stubborn. Never does she have to make use of her wits. It’s insufferable to watch and guess what her failure to save the candle leads to? Nothing! They become a tighter community and rebuilding the house makes the miracle come back. There was no long lasting impact and no self reflection. It just starts and ends in the same place much like how the music has nothing to offer.

Though there is much more to be said about the writing quality of this story, I will give it credit as this movie is beautifully animated with amazing set pieces and details with music that compliments it very well, but all this pizzazz doesn’t make for a good movie as the heart of this movie is the story and the characters, and when the fall flat, like I will eventually do, it becomes a burden for the mind to tolerate. To me old bones, this is like watching an episode of family guy: it’s an experience that leaves me feeling hollow. Though there was much potential to be conceived from this endeavor, it’s not an something worth your time me fellows so save yourselves the trouble and watch something better. 

This was De La Serna. Allen De La Serna, and I’m out of here to continue me quest and inform you of me travels!