Spellbound Is the No. 1 Movie on Netflix, but Is It Worth Watching With Your Kids?
Is it as good as the recent The Wild Robot?
The first news about Spellbound appeared in 2017. Since then, the project has changed its name twice and moved from Apple TV+ to Netflix.
The animation is attracting viewers with big names: the director is Vicky Jenson, who previously worked on Shrek, and the producer is Toy Story director John Lasseter.
Rachel Zegler, Nicole Kidman and Javier Bardem are among the voice actors. Meanwhile, Oscar-winning composer Alan Menken, whose credits include The Little Mermaid and Beauty and the Beast, wrote the music.
Did it all help Spellbound to become an interesting and compelling story? No.
What Is Spellbound About?
It is the birthday of Princess Ellian, but the 15-year-old teenager has no plans to spend a luxurious holiday in the palace. For the past year, the girl has been keeping a secret: her parents, the King and Queen, have turned into monsters, or rather, into giant, glowing animals that have no human speech and no memory of the past.
The ministers at court have lost hope and decided that Ellian should take the throne. Meanwhile, the princess refuses to give up, asks the Oracles for help, and goes with her parents to the magical lake to lift the spell.
The Fact that Spellbound Is a Musical Doesn't Help the Movie
Spellbound is a musical: it would seem that musical numbers should brighten up the narrative and add a touch of sentimentality to the story. But in this case, the melodic interludes do not benefit the movie at all.
The writers immerse the audience in the action after the king and queen have turned into uncontrollable creatures: the tragedy that happened is retold through song. We are not given the opportunity to get involved with the characters, much less to learn anything about the enchanted beyond the fact that they wear a crown on their head.
Spellbound Is a Rather Simple and Monotonous Journey
One could forgive the hasty insertion into the story if the creators had offered a gripping plot. But Ellian's journey through the dark forest towards the light is devoid of exciting events.
The main problem of the movie is the lack of a clearly expressed conflict. Most of the movie consists of a predictable and rather simple path to a magical lake, during which the girl tries to strengthen family ties with her mother and father, and they, in turn, gradually begin to speak and remember that they are the parents of a teenager.
The Netflix animated film will probably be forgotten in a month or two and will not appear on the list of the best animated films of the year. The project is destined to be lost against the backdrop of more expressive stories: for example, Inside Out 2 or the tender film about motherhood The Wild Robot.