Descendants 2 (Film Review)

The movie was rotten to the core, and here's why.

1. Songs that do not make sense

Before the Disney Channel Original Movie was released, the song "Ways to be Wicked" was uploaded onto YouTube. The actors also performed it on Dancing with the Stars. And guess what? It turns out to be a completely unnecessary song that does not even move the plot. When the song ends, the camera zooms in on Mal's eye and then zooms out to Mal with blonde hair, being bombarded with questions by nosy reporters. So the song was just Mal's daydream and therefore meaningless. Erm, okay? I thought apples were going to be important in the story but it was just a pointless song and an excuse for a musical number at the start of the show.

"What's My Name" was another song that Disney tried to hype up before the movie was aired. The audience is introduced to Uma, Harry and Gil, descendants of Ursula, Captain Hook, and Gaston respectively. Before singing, Uma asks Harry what her name was. Um, what? Why would she do that? Doesn't he know her name? They were obviously flirting with each other throughout the song. Harry says that "Uma's so hot, they get burned if they look" while Uma says "Hook me" and winks at him several times. So they clearly know each other well. The lyrics are just weird.

Uma sings a little bit of "What's My Name" after a rap battle and a supposedly epic sword fight between Uma's gang and Mal's gang. The rap battle was strange because Mal refers to her group as "VKs", which stands for Villain Kids. However, this doesn't apply to the situation since Uma and her pirate crew are VKs as well, and Mal actually has Lonnie on her side, who isn't a VK at all. But the weirdest part is when Mal and her friends manage to escape. Mal pushes down a bridge and Uma is unable to chase after them. Uma then angrily pushes Harry and sings "What's My Name" in a frustrated manner. It's like OMG. JUST. WHY.

Was it supposed to be a reprise of the song? To quote Wikipedia, "reprises are any repetition of an earlier song or theme, usually with changed lyrics and shortened music to reflect the development of the story." The movie Tangled is a great example. Rapunzel sings "When Will My Life Begin" at the very start of the film, showing the audience how bored she is to be cooped up at home. When Flynn brings her out for the first time, she sings again but the lyrics are changed. She sings about grass, dirt and the summer breeze. Similarly, the song "Mother Knows Best" is sung twice. The first time Mother Gothel sings, she portrays herself as a nice lady who is just looking out for her daughter. However, when the song is sung again, it becomes more like "Rapunzel Knows Best". Mother Gothel continues to insult and guilt-trip Rapunzel. The song is more sinister than the last, since Mother Gothel is looking older and more desperate than ever.

Why couldn't Disney do something like that for Descendants?

2. Part of the movie do not make sense

There are some little things in the movie that disturbed me.

For instance, Harry actually puts a piece of gum that Mal was chewing on into his mouth. Again, apart from making me feel grossed out, I don't see the point in this scene.

The song "Chillin' Like a Villain" contained impressive choreography and I particularly liked Evie's line about losing a fight to an alley cat. However, when Carlos says "if you don't, you're gonna get us caught", the three villain kids stared straight into the camera. Um, is it necessary to break the fourth wall here?

I could let the previous two examples slide, but the worst was the unnecessary arm wrestle between Uma and Mal. At this point of the movie, Uma has captured Ben. Then Mal is asked to meet her at Ursula's Fish and Chips. When the two girls meet, they arm wrestle. Uma claims that Ben can leave if she wins. However, this doesn't even make any sense. Uma has the upper hand! She already has leverage over Mal, so why partake in arm wrestling? What if she loses? She would still be able to carry out her plan but she would have embarrassed herself! This is just a really bad plan on Uma's part, and it makes her seem like a joke.

3. Characterisation of Mal

Mal is the female protagonist that I'm supposed to like and identify with, right? Wrong. Apparently, Mal's behaviour is extremely inconsistent. In Descendants 2, she misses screaming at people and making them run away from her. I'm sorry, what? Did I hear right? Is this the same Mal who, in the previous movie, convinced her friends to choose good over evil? Character development from the last movie was flung right out of the window. (This is starting to sound like How I Met Your Mother and trust me, you don't wanna go there.)

It honestly doesn't make sense for her to run away to the isle just because she quarrelled with her boyfriend. Since she already chose to leave that life behind, why does she not choose to go somewhere else? Audrey was cut out of the movie and it was explained that she was on a spa vacation with Flora, Fauna and Merryweather. As much as I detest Audrey's bitchy personality, I think she got it right. Instead of feeling frustrated in Auradon Prep, Mal should go on a well-deserved holiday. Instead of breaking up with Ben, she should just tell him that she needs a break! After all, it is clear that she still loves him. She's just cracking under pressure and that's understandable. Instead of stress talking and having random outbursts in front of her friends, she should just honestly tell Ben how she feels. Ugh.

There are also a few other minor bits that annoyed me. 

The script was pretty terrible. When Ben talks to her at her locker, Mal didn't even know that it was Thursday. Yet, she claimed that she needed to get to class. If she didn't know it was Thursday, how would she have known which class to get to? She would have gotten her timetable all wrong!

After saving Ben, Mal mentions that her spell book is not with her. But she doesn't even panic! And also, when did she realise that her spellbook was left behind? It was as if she left it there on purpose.

4. Unnecessary scenes

Evie, Ben, Carlos and Jay ride a limo to the isle to look for Mal. Ben speaks to Mal and tries to convince her to come home, but Mal insists that she doesn't fit in. She says she's a terrible influence and doesn't say "I love you" back to Ben. 

At this point of the movie, I was still feeling annoyed that Mal ran off to the isle because her actions simply do not make sense to me. Honestly, this entire scene should be cut out because it just establishes what we already know -- that Mal still loves Ben but dating the king comes with a crazy amount of stress. 

Ben should have immediately been kidnapped by Uma and her crew after the song "Chillin' Like a Villain". It would save a lot of time. The movie is about 1 hour 50 minutes long. Perhaps better Disney films are not as long because they have a tighter story.

Oh, and there is another unnecessary scene. After Jay makes Lonnie the captain of some sword fighting club (Apparently it's called the Swords and Shields team. Whatever), she commands the team to do ten push ups and then... dismisses them. I'm all for making Lonnie captain and I like how she gets back at Chad for being stupid and sexist, but the extremely short training session was ridiculously lame. 

5. Cutting from scene to scene

It seems like the film was not edited properly. Sometimes, the camera cuts from one shot to another, but it is inconsistent. For example, during "It's Goin' Down" aka the rap battle, Harry tries to intimidate Mal. The audience first sees Mal's hair being touched by the hook. Then, the scene cuts back to Harry, but his hook is nowhere to be seen. Inconsistent much?

Also, at the cotillion, Evie shows up with a blue dress. It is so long that it looks like it sweeps the floor. Mal, on the other hand, appears in a yellow and blue dress, which are the school colours. It makes sense for Mal's dress to change. I mean, Mal did become a purple dragon, so I guess she is entitled to a purple dress. And it shows her progress. Instead of trying to hard to fit in, she is finally ready to be herself. That being herself means having green eyes, purple hair, and wearing a purple dress. OK.

But for the last musical number, Evie's dress becomes short and Mal's dress changes from a more elaborate purple dress to a simpler one. What gives? Why did the dresses change? Did the girls have a spare dress to change into in case they wanted to break out into song and dance? Did they know that Uma was going to splash water onto the ship and so long dresses were a bad choice? 

You may think that I'm paying too much attention to their clothes, but it's not my fault. Since Evie was shown working as a fashion designer, obviously I'm going to pay more attention to the dresses. 

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Although the movie wasn't that great, here are some things I liked about it.

1. Character development

Ahem! *Clears my throat* Ahem! I'm looking at you, Mal. Apart from having love interests, the VKs discover what they like and their passions in Auradon. Evie has fashion, Jay has sports and Carlos has his pet dog. What does Mal have? Ben. It's no wonder why Mal isn't a relatable character. 

Since this is ultimately a kids movie, it's important to portray characters children can look up to. Evie started out in the first movie as a superficial, vain princess wannabe. In the second film, she is working as a fashion designer. She is the mature one who actually advises Mal to donate her spell book to the museum just like she donated her mirror! Not only does she give fashion advice, she also gives relationship advice to Mal (who doesn't actually listen and continues to lie) and advises the king as well. At the end of the movie, she provides King Ben a list of kids from the isle (including Drizzy, daughter of one of the evil stepsisters from Cinderella) who deserve a "second chance". (I'm putting this phrase in quotation marks because the children were kept on the isle just because their parents were villains so technically, they have not done anything wrong yet. So it's more like a first chance actually) She is a great friend who doesn't hesitate to go back to the isle for Mal and she tells her friends that their experience at the isle has made them who they are. Who cares about the fairest of them all? I'd say Evie is the wisest.

As for Jay, the first movie showed that he has stopped stealing. Instead, he channels his energy into sports. In the second movie, Jay has been appointed the captain of the sword fighting team. He's fitting in so well that he's becoming the typical jock at a high school, and many girls seem attracted to him. However, after Evie tells him, Carlos and Mal that their experience back home counts for something as well, he decides to bend the rules by making Lonnie the captain. He's not breaking the rules since the rule book specified that they needed a captain and eight other men, and I totally approve. It's a wonderful loophole that should be exploited.

Carlos wasn't actually very evil to begin with. In the first film, he provided us with laughs because he was so afraid of dogs. When he realises that Dude is actually a lovable creature, he adopts the furry dog and they're always seen together. Thankfully, Descendants 2 allows for more character development. He initiates what he calls "girl talk" (quotation marks since that was in the script. However, I see it more as a heart to heart talk that girls and boys can both partake in) and shows Mal that they support her. He gives great advice too: if he doesn't love you for who you are, he's not worth it. Dude, the talking dog that had consumed a truth gummy, repeats his words and Carlos finally plucks up the courage and asks Jane out.

In Descendants, Chad and Audrey were just assholes. They harbour prejudice against villain kids from the isle and it's just like xenophobia. In the sequel, Audrey isn't around but Chad continues being a douchebag. He's sexist as he's the one telling Jay that girls aren't allowed on the team. He has an inflated ego and thinks that he would be a great king. Chad even resorts to making a copy of the key to Jay and Carlos's room just so that he can use their 3D printer. The worst part was probably when he was caught making a miniature figure of himself. I think it's hilarious that he didn't manage to complete it and it ends up being headless. His head is too big for the figurine anyway. 

I liked the first movie because it portrayed people like Chad and Audrey, kids from supposedly happy, married couples. Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty might have had their happily ever after, but their children are spoiled rotten and narrow-minded. I really liked how the Auradon kids were the actual villains in the first story. Perhaps the movie was trying to show that children from dysfunctional, broken families tend to be more mature. However, it's hard to say and it's not right to generalise, since Ben probably had everything he wanted too but he isn't like Chad or Audrey. And Jane is alright as well. She has become a lot more confident in the second movie and is mostly seen planning the royal cotillion instead of being awkward and nervous around the villain kids.


2. Toxic relationships

In the first movie, we see how the villain kids have toxic relationships with their parents. Maleficent educates her daughter about how wonderful it is to be evil and pressurises her to steal fairy godmother's wand. Carlos hears a bunch of lies from Cruella de Vil, mostly about how evil dogs are. She screams at him a lot as well. Jay's father just wants him to steal a bunch of stuff and rub them to see if they are magical lamps that contain genies. Evie had been brainwashed into thinking that appearances are extremely important, and that she should marry a prince and live in a castle. This is terrible advice since Evie ends up doing Chad's homework for him, hoping to eventually live in his castle. (Really glad that she is with Doug! He tells her that she'll eventually make enough money to buy the castle she's always wanted, and Evie tells him that she doesn't need a prince. Aww, such a sweet moment)

In the second movie, the toxic relationship is actually between Ben and Mal. I'm not quite sure what is up with Ben but he seems to have low self-esteem and is intimidated by Mal. Maybe he just really wants to impress her. But obviously he's trying too hard and overcompensating by giving Mal a surprise almost everyday. He corrects her and says it's every other day or rather on even days, because she's even more perfect than he thought. What a cheesy and fake line. Right from the start, it's already hard to buy into their lovey dovey act. Besides, a purple scooter is way too big a present for teenagers to just be casually giving to one another. And I don't care if said teenager is royalty.

And on Mal's end, she lies so much that she could become the next Pinocchio. She uses her spell book to whip up a meal, dye her hair blonde and she memorises books using a speed reading spell. She's trying too hard to fit in and to be perfect, since Ben always praises her for being so perfect. I feel that the most basic thing that a relationship should have is honesty and trust. As mentioned by Evie, Mal should not be keeping secrets from Ben (and vice-versa of course). She's trying to keep her whole identity from him and that's not who he fell in love with in the first place.

Thankfully, this toxic relationship isn't that toxic. I mean, it's not like Mal was forcing Ben to buy her things and it's not like Ben was forcing Mal to change. But I also wouldn't mind if they chose to split up. I think that Evie is a more interesting character and she stole the show. I know that Descendants 3 is going to be a thing but they should come up with a better plot next time.