Directors: Jared Bush, Byron Howard
Writers: Jared Bush, Byron Howard,Charise Castro Smith, Jason Hand, Nancy Kruse, Lin-Manuel Miranda
Studio: Walt Disney Pictures Walt Disney Animation Studios
First watch: 15/01/2022
Review contains ***SPOILERS*** for Encanto
Ratings:
| OVERALL | NB: These are not weighted equally (if at all) | Plot | Storytelling | Animation | Characters |
| 7 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 6 |
Such a great film with so many great messages and magical moments. I had so much fun (and cried a whole lot) watching it and it was visually incredible but it still has areas it could imporove in.
So yeah, visually it was so amazing. Walt Disney animation studios is never going to struggle in this department but like I always seem to notice in these 3D animated features, all the environments felt so alive, with extras and animals who all seemed to have truth in their movements and seemed to live and breathe completely independently of this story taking place. And of course, the magic, the decoration and the scenery in the settings made it feel super vibrant and made the whole film an incredibly pleasant experience. Colour does a lot. Also that super high Disney quality was there, to the point that you could see the baby hairs on Luisa's back when she flexed; those animators must have worked their arses off! One of my favourite bits to get completely lost in was the discovery of Antonio's room; what an absolute dream.
The visual storytelling also adds to the visual impact of the film. They did so many amazing things on screen to get points and feelings across. I really enjoyed moment's like the engagement dinner, where they did the Dwarves Thing: they had Camilo react to the news by shapeshifting into Mirabel then Bruno, then Félix (who has no powers) finds out and spits out his drink, then Pepa finds out and her expression drops as a thundercloud forms above her head. They also used a lot of that Golde Age super imagery for the songs (think 'I Just Can't Wait to Be King', with the cutaways to crazy scenes that are just for show). There was also a lot of visual metaphors, like cracks appearing and cacti amongst flowers.
The message of the film, I think, is probably more important than the story itself (although the story was authentically driven at all points - a big plus!). The message is what shapes the story and as the film progresses, that message becomes more and more obvious. The story does have a very solid foundation for delivering that message but I think some of the details, some of which might fall more under storytelling, could have been changed to improve the impact of that message (suggestions below). They put too much focus on some bits, not enough on others etc. Even another song or two could have helped shape the story and relationships between the characters a bit better. There were also lots of smaller messages in the film, which I think they executed brilliantly.
The best example of these mini-messages is Luisa basing her value as a person on her ability to provide a service to people. This was a really good way of reframing masculinity and a quite common trait in men; that said, it was maybe lost a litte because Luisa is a woman but on balance, Disney made the best decision they could with her character. With that message, the character needs gift of super strength and it would be all too in line with the current state of damaging gender roles to assign that to a man character. So Disney pretty much got the message across as best it could whilst also swimming against the current; I think they nailed it. Also, I'm glad they made Luisa visually very pretty and 'feminine'. That's another reason I think they nailed the decision of making her a woman, because they also showed that women can be feminine and also be buff. It was great. Other messages like not overextending yourself, understanding each other and not having to fit anyone else's mould were great too.
Characters were cool. I would have loved to have seen more of Luisa and Isabela but their whole character stories were great. More emphasis on their journies would have driven home the respective messages better, because it seemed as though they were of eqal importance to the cousins when story-wise, they weren't. Abuela is a little bit off-the-shelf and I regret to say that Mirabel wasn't exactly groundbreaking. But they all did their part and were relatable in the moments they needed to be. Antonio was a little King! I absolutely fucking loved him and he of course had the coolest gift. His little outfit on his gift day was also adorable. Character design, however, is top drawer. Everyone looks exactly like what their character embodies. Just looking at their character sheets would tell you everything you need to know about them. I think this can be seen the most clearly with hair textures. I don't know how the hell they did it but Isabela's hair literally looked like it was fresh out of a fancy salon, Mirabel's was a little messy and although I'd maybe withold the design=character comment with regards to Félix and his kids, they did a fantastic jobs with the afro hair textures! Also, well done to them for placing Félix into that family to give the film some solid afro latino representation. I'm not an expert on that but I was glad to see it.
Regarding the animation, there isn't much to say. It's Disney, it's the gold standard. Of course it was expressive, weighty and perfectly stylised.
Highly recommend this film to anyone at all but especially people looking for a family film to please a crowd with mixed ages.
Now, things they could have added to make the film even better:
-More moments between the sisters before they sing their songs. Their songs are where we only first get to meet them properly in my opinion, but their songs are where they start to develop. Essentially they get development with not enough exposition. Of course we get told about them and shown them using their gifts briefly but that's more just an idea of them, rather than actually who they are. Maybe a song between the 3 sistsers, maybe even some backstory about how close they used to be! That would also clarify that the 3 of them are the drivers of the story. It felt completely random when Bruno's new vision was for Mirabel and Isabela to hug. Because Isabela was just not in the story.
-Spending a just a tiny bit longer (literally like 45 seconds) emphasising how the sisters use their gifts now and that the true gifts are each other and themselves. They did do this but it was only about 5 seconds each, which just wasn't enough for me. I wouldn't even have minded if they did a bit of telling here.
-Similarly, we could have had Abuela really clearly showing (or telling) that the real gift is each other. She could have literally put the candle out herself to show it (and there could have been some kind of plot device, like a candle snuffer that we saw but didn't know the purpose of).
-They could also have had the Casita and the Candle be gone forever to really drive home the message. As I always say, if outcomes can just be undone, then all the actions that led to them become inconsequential. But it's a family movie, so it's for kids too - I get why they didn't do that.
-GIVE MIRABEL A ROOM!! So Brutal we didn't even see that lol. She doesn't get a 'gift', which was really good of them to stick to, but she so could have been given a door. Is she just going to spend the rest of her life in the nursery watching a revolving door of toddlers go by?
-That said, I'd have liked to see what Mirabel's life looks like after the movie. Luisa and Isabela have this renewed outlook on life and now provide for people without compromising on themselves, but what does Mirabel do? Does she just pure chill out?
-Some of the gender roles could have been improved. Like if Mirabel's mum were her dad instead, it would have been nice to see a man who heals people with food and a lovely wife who's super sweet.
-Lastly, the whole way through the film, I though Mirabel's parents didn't back her enough. To the point it felt unsettling. In the context of the film, it really would have made sense for her parents to back her up and believe her and believe in her constantly. Felt wrong to watch and also in my opinion, would have sent Mirabel over the edge actually.
