Encanto - Movie Review

Critics Score - 7 of 10

General Audience Score - 8 of 10

2021 was a nice year for seeing Hispanic representation up on the big screen, not saying mission accomplished or that more can’t be done. But West Side Story and In The Heights both had wonderful casts, Oscar Issac had some great roles including a nice role in Dune and there was some other big roles in premiere films that took an interest to include this underrepresented community. Encanto is the latest animated film from Disney Animation to bring us a slice of some Hispanic culture and heritage into our living rooms as it’s currently available on Disney+. This is certainly one of the better animated films of the year, although the musical numbers feel a bit forced and none of the songs are quite as catchy as other offerings from Disney lately. But the beautiful animation and diverse colorful palette used helps to overcome a lot. The film was amusing although it could’ve used a bit more humor, and the heartwarming story at the core of the film was sufficient enough to keep viewers engaged. Encanto may not be one of the best films of the year or even take the best animated film, pero es muy buena.

SYNOPSIS - This family affair begins with a backstory of the Madrigal family and how they came into their magic house and supernatural powers. When a young man and woman and their triplets were escaping a town full of violence, they were chased and the husband was killed. An ever burning candle blessed the family with a miracle, an encanto. All the three triplets were given gifts of special powers, then their children when they came of age as well received them, it’s a family tradition. Mirabel (Stephanie Beatriz) is one of the grandchildren and the center of our story, but she wasn’t given any powers for some unknown reason. But at a party for her young cousin to receive his powers, Mirabel is given a vision of the house cracking as it’s losing it’s enchantment and the candle’s flame that continually burns and represents the family’s miracle is threatened to go out.

Once Princess Maribel gets married to her Prince, we’ve enjoyed seeing another delightful family oriented animated film from the Mouse House. Got to give Disney credit for trying to throw off the shackles of the tropes of their animated features from decades gone past, they are making movies that are racially diverse and try to follow different story lines. But like Marvel, there might be variations in the screenplays and stories, but the formulas are essentially the same. The score is  wonderful and the Hispanic style songs and beats are very good, but that’s exactly what you’d expect from the talents of Lin-Manuel Miranda. However the original songs fall far short of the Frozen or even Moana original songs. The animation really has some fantastic quality and this should get a nomination for Best Animated Feature at the Oscars. Most everyone will have a good to great time with Encanto and it’s fantastic fun for families to pop on and watch together, but just like Raya And The Last Dragon from earlier this year, this one also fails to capture the full Disney magic of old.

SUMMARY - Encanto in Spanish means charm or enchant, which it’s able to do to most audiences fairly effectively. It’s gorgeous to look at and the story is sweet, but if you put on this movie hoping to see some truly original Disney material or have it deliver some really inspired and catchy songs like Frozen, this film . . En cant . . o.