Esther L (Year 11)

 The popular Disney Channel franchise trilogy Descendants has just released a sequel Descendants: Rise of Red on the 12th of July 2024, directed by Christopher Harris and the film has aroused a variety of opinions from its fans. The premise of the movie begins after the Queen of Hearts incites a coup on Auradon, compelling the protagonists, her rebellious daughter Red and the daughter of Cinderella, Chloe Charming, to join hands and work together, while struggling with the images theirs mother’s have left. With Red trying to escape the villainous image her mother has set and Chloe trying to meet her mother’s legendary status. Complications arise as the two attempt to cooperate, travelling back in time to undo the traumatic event that set Red’s mother down her villainous path. 

The film explores themes of responsibility, personal growth and good vs evil, combined with the superhero genre, a mix of drama, action and adventure providing Rise of Red thrilling sequences with a deep emotional narrative. 

The film gathered many positive reviews, specifically in accordance to the musical talent of the cast, the catchy songs, the Brandy cameo, Rita Ora’s acting and time travel as a core idea for Wonderland. Although the film garnered many satisfied reactions, there was also plenty of feedback and criticism, including the plot being very rushed and predictable, an unnecessary amount of songs which do not exude previous descendants ambience, the ending being disappointing, Chloe Charming having visible changes within her wig in every scene, terrible CGI, an abundance of plot holes, Uma not having enough screentime, the Queen of Hearts having an American accent when she was younger but a British accent when she is older, etc. 

One of the most prominent opinions is that the themes follow very closely to Ever after high. Ever After High was a popular media franchise created by Mattel and debuted in 2013 that included a book series, a line of dolls and an animated web series. The Show cantered around the teenage children of famous fairy tale characters that attended the magical school Ever After High. The students at Ever After High must choose whether to follow in their parent’s footsteps and embrace their destined roles or carve out their own unique paths. 

Though this opinion has travelled through the entire franchise of descendants with the rumour that descendants is what caused the cancelation of Ever After high. Though this new movie has only increased the uproar as audience believe that this storyline is a knockoff on an Ever After high plotline. In Ever After High, there are similar characters to these main characters named Lizzie Hearts who is the queen of hearts daughter and Darling Charming the daughter of Prince Charming and Cinderella. Many were quick to call out that the character design for Red and Chloe are very similar to these characters. Now the comparison has again increased on what show is better Ever After High or Descendants. 

Overall, the movie is enjoyable for its targeted demographic, and I wholeheartedly believe the new, younger cast carry talent and potential for greater things. Personally, I have always enjoyed Descendants but Ever After High will always be better in my humble opinion. Many people believe that Ever After High had better world building, plot, character designs, character development, etc in comparison to Descendants which I agree with but I still appreciate the Descendants franchise for what it is.