Movie Review: Spellbound 12-8-24
This movie is about an Elfin princess named Ellian, whose parents the King and Queen were turned into monsters after entering the Dark Forest of Eternal Darkness. Because of this, they have to keep it a secret from the rest of the kingdom of Lumbria. On her 15th birthday, Elian learns that the only way to break the spell is for the Ellian and her parents to embark on a journey through the Dark Forest of Eternal Darkness to find the legendary Lake of Light to turn the King and Queen back to normal.
Spellbound is unfortunately on the weaker side of animated movies this year with a story that is more filler that feature, a message that says that it’s a bad thing to have negative emotions, and characters that feel like they came out of a Disney movie.
Another thing to point out about Spellbound is that it’s a full-fledged musical with songs from the legendary Alan Menken. Some songs, like ‘Step by Step’, ‘The Way It Was Before’, and ‘How To Break the Spell’ are actually worthy of adding to your iPhone. One song, however (I Could Get Used To This), can be deemed as the worst Alan a Menken song since ‘Yodel-Adle-Edle-Idle-Ooo’ from Home on the Range.
Even though the creature designs are really good, it seems strange that they can talk. As Ellian’s parents Ellsmore and Solon start rebounding with their daughter, they regain the ability to talk. This is strange because their designs don’t look like they can emit speech. I personally would’ve gone with the Brave route and keep Ellsmore and Solon mute until they retain their human forms. Elinor in Brave was able to understand English despite being a bear.
If that wasn’t bad enough, Flink, Ellian’s pet hamster, swaps brains with Minister Bolinar. For most of the movie, Bolinar complains about being in a different body and even wishes he was dead at one point. This just reminds me way too much of Valentino in Wish, another animal character who would’ve been better off mute.
 |
| Bolinar getting carried by a hoard of 'Flinks'. |
In conclusion, just ignore Spellbound and rewatch a better Netflix animated movie instead, such as Vivo, Del Torro’s Pinocchio, and Leo. If you want to hear my thoughts on Adam Sandler’s Leo, you’ll have to wait until February for me to review that film.
Rating: 2.5 stars out of 5.
About 10-20 years ago, John Lasseter (the head of Skydance Animation after he was ousted from Pixar) was deemed as a latter-day Walt Disney: Both were people who started animation studios that made an enormous impact with innovate animation, engaging characters, and powerful storytelling. Nowadays, John is closer to 90s Don Bluth, as both men are trying to copy Disney, but what they ended up producing are worse than what the Mouse House is putting out.
