I’ve always said that yearly releases often show a decrease in quality. This is seen with yearly video game releases, and the same is mostly true for films. Obviously, Disney has several studios working on several films at once, but I’ve been a little disappointed with recent Disney / Disney Pixar releases. None of them appealed to me. They all seemed a bit ‘meh’ from trailers and it meant I never wanted to watch them. But Encanto is different. Disney uploaded one of the songs to their YouTube channel and it instantly hooked me. I watched it as soon as I could.
So what did I think?
Overall, it was fun.
Encanto is a bright and colourful experience mixed with interesting and unique characters and a few good songs.
The story is simple, a magical family in a magical house that is slowly losing the magic. It’s a concept that’s been done before and often is best served with interesting characters. It’s a story that can’t be done if the characters are boring. But luckily, Encanto is spot on with funny, creative and relatable characters. Whilst the story itself isn’t anything complex, it is complemented with stellar animation, soundtrack and voice acting that brings a smile to your face.
I feel like you can’t review a Disney film without talking about the animation. But then, what is there to say?
It’s perfect. Disney perfected animation years ago. Their art style is so refreshing, pretty and jaw-dropping. Disney pioneered 3D animation and I’m glad they keep at it with the same style. Whilst it would be cool to maybe see them try something different, this current style still works wonders and shows with how animated their characters move and feel. The attention to detail is something that just made my jaw drop. There are so many cool little details that it helps bring the entire world to life.
The soundtrack is good, it’s a Pixar film so what can you expect? The songs are strange, to me. They try for a few different styles but those ones don’t seem to hit very well. The best one is “We don’t talk about Bruno”, and that’s probably because it’s so similar to a classic Disney song. (Plus it has great harmonies). I feel like they didn’t need to try and have this modern feel with the music, and I mostly feel that was Lin-Manuel Miranda’s doing. (EDIT: After listening to the soundtrack some more, all the songs are pretty great and some have even earned their way onto my playlists)
As I mentioned, the characters are the best bit. They have some fun ideas that work really well. The relationships between these siblings were crafted with realism in mind, and it shows. They feel like a real family. Of course, there is that typical exaggeration with the dinner-table arguments but those are executed perfectly thanks to some great comedic timing and memorable moments.
Although, the characters are also an issue. In 1 hour 40 minutes, there is only so much time to focus on certain characters. Of course, some characters are more important than others, but it’s the most interesting ones that are pushed to the side. To me, I found the aunt that can control the weather to be the most interesting, and yet she was in it so little. Same with the kid that can transform, but he seemed mostly to be there for certain jokes and songs only to then be forgotten about.
I hope Disney doesn’t forget these characters. They are the type that you hope will get a spinoff that is just about them. It would be interesting to see how they interact with each other, about their daily lives, and more about their past or future.
My only issue is how Bruno is meant to be this mysterious man and turns out to be the opposite. Obviously, this film is about family, but if they wanted a different direction I’m sure they would have made Bruno the creepy villain. (Which could be cool)
Overall, I highly recommend it. If you want a fun, well crafted, piece of animation then I can’t recommend this enough. I had a lot of fun with the idea and really wish there was more to it.
I give it an 8 out of 10.
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