Emotional sensibilities, story arcs adorned with plenty of comedy, and fictional character metamorphosis are among the core aspects portrayed in animated films. Some animated scripts are however worse than any expectations, but certain titles are at least less dull simply because they set out to be something.
Spellbound, the Netflix project funded by Skydance Animation, is focused around family, its values and the aspects of family which can build or break it. And this is its strongest side, but for some reason, it builds up a tension for quite some time in order to even reach this point and then somewhat disappoints in other aspects as well.
Spellbound is a film that is wonderful directed by Vicky Jenson with a screenplay by Lauren Hynek, Elizabeth Martin and Julia Miranda. The movie follows Ellian (Rachel Zegler), a princess in Lumbria, a quaint kingdom with a Spanish flavour, as seen in the early scenes of the movie with an energized flamenco song and dance.
Fifteen year old Ellian does not in anyway live the life of a typical teenager she believed or thought she would be. Rather than going out riding and having fun with her teenage friends, Ellian, alongside Ministers Bolinar (oh so great, played by John Lithgow) and Nazara (Jenifer Lewis), has been nurturing her monsters turned parents from the dark forest of eternal darkness for the past one year.
Spellbound Doesn’t Dig Deeper Into The Complex Family Dynamics
During the film, Ellian displays unique feelings, especially her wish that her parents could turn back to being human, while Bolinar and Nazara assert that this will not happen and they will make Ellian the queen instead.
The main focus of the film turns to Ellian’s quest to bring back her parents, but the relative short amount of screen time that has been provided before she embarks on her journey into the Dark Forest of Eternal Darkness.
(which is preceded in time by several sequences that depict what family relations were in the past before kings Javier Bardem and queens Nicole Kidman had been altered) is very disappointing in terms of the plot development.
We hear echoes of this in Ellian’s memories which briefly include Archer singing to her “The Way It Was Before,” which gives out the impression that everything was okay before they were not. It’s from Ellian’s perspective, so it’s only logical that the audience experiences the same shock she does, when her parents withdraws her from the enchantment.
However, this revelation is this too late in the movie that it dampers the emotional impact. The best song in the film, “What About Me?”, is such a natural fit because it possesses all the annoying scrappy influence that the rest of Spellbound is practically devoid of.
I had a little bit of reflection over Brave and the way it portrayed Merida’s and Elinor’s dynamics. This didn’t lessen the effect of Merida’s goal of trying to reverse her mother’s curse into a bear –it added to the effect.
In Spellbound, we’re clear what Ellian has to do which is already something we comprehend, however instead of highlighting the parental conflict since the initial moments, we’re left with one or two scenes which hint the story is going right and then suddenly it goes left.
This does not resolve the struggle between Ellian, Bolinar, and General Olga Merediz who wants to imprison the horrible monarchs and export them. It creates a conflict that is far less effective as well as emotionally drained.
The concentration on the escapade, whereas the story explores the essence of the conflict is skipped, might be effective for children, who I expect will be much more entertained than I was, but for the target adults and audiences, Spellbound tries in vain an entire family coverage that could have been developed more in depth regarding its intricacies.
Spellbound Has Its Charming Moments
The absence of a heart, however, does not imply that Spellbound is devoid of a few heartwarming scenes. They occur late in the film, but Ellian’s parents’ reconciliation is beautiful.
The animation team was great at portraying the dark vortex that feeds on dark emotions, and it is praise worthy that the plot has a more adult perspective along with the complex feelings it brings. Some of the other characters, albeit poorly sketched, add to the appeal.
In a delightfully humorous sequence, Lithgow seems to have fun after Bolinar has been infantized too much by Flink the pet hamster of Ellian, and Bardem’s king Solon enthusiastically focuses on raising one to toss off the “water gushing within his frame”.
The animation of the film is pleasant with the artistic clothing of the characters served as a detailed feature. However, Alan Menken’s score here is not the best the composer has completed, and the songs with Glenn Slater’s lyric were not quite catchy pieces nor remarkable in their efforts apart from one.
No previously reviewed look at animated films for brash children But Spellbound exactly does not exceed the expectations and, rather, will appreciate youth audiences if they better manage just over two hours without their excessive urges.
The story was on the right track but the direction is rather what busts the animation from elevating to its optimum possible height. It is just that I wish it would have captured the center of the heart in the tale more vigorously.
Spellbound is available for streaming on Netflix. It has been rated PG for thematic elements and some action and peril while running for 109 minutes straight.
