Encanto marks the 60th feature film for Walt Disney Animation Studios. From Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs through to today, it’s not a stretch to say Disney has created some absolutely iconic films. But does Encanto rank with the best? The reviews for Encanto are here, and based on the first batch of critics, it looks like most fans of Disney Animation will enjoy Encanto. While not everybody loves the film, most find good things to say about it and found it to be enjoyable and worth checking out.
Some, however, absolutely loved the new Disney film. I was one of them. I reviewed Encanto for CinemaBlend and while Encanto’s plot is going to sound pretty familiar to anybody who has ever seen an animated Disney movie before, I thought that the way Encanto make changes to that story really helped it shine…
Encanto isn’t a revolutionary film for Disney, but the places where it makes changes to the formula make it stand out from the crowd.
And I’m not the only one that gave Encanto raves in the review department, Polygon also felt the new film is one of Disney’s best, that does something very different with it's traditional female protagonist...
Disney has returned over and over to heroes’ journeys and plucky, bright-eyed protagonists looking out on the horizon, dreaming of adventure or romance. Encanto is not that. It’s something new and dynamic: a movie about relatives who love each other very much, but have a hard time understanding one another.
Encanto is the story of the Madrigal family, which has been blessed with magic, all except Mirabel, who for some reason was never given a magical gift. However, when the magic itself is threatened Mirabel tries to find a way to fix it.
While some critics felt that Encanto did enough to break up Disney’s regular formula, others, while they still enjoyed the film, felt the movie was ultimately still more of the same from Disney. Slashfilm finds Encanto to be well, fine, but it never gets out from under the traditional storytelling beats of a Disney movie...
Encanto partly has the misfortune of utilizing a mishmash of formulaic elements seen in plenty of other Disney and Pixar films, without being able to avoid those elements being noticeable.
A similar review comes from ScreenRant, where the review seems to be complimentary in spite of itself. Yes, Encanto is largely what you expect from Disney these days, but sometimes you just can’t help but enjoy it anyway...
Though it can't quite break out of the Disney mold, Encanto is greatly aided by a unique story, a delightful cast of characters, and a vital message.
So the general consensus on Encanto is that, if you tend to enjoy most modern Disney movies, you’ll probably enjoy Encanto, as it has a lot in common with them. However, you might just find something truly special within that tried and true formula. Encanto arrives in theaters November 24.
