"The Harder They Fall" Makes an Impact

I don't appreciate Quentin Tarantino enough.  As much as I dislike "The Hateful Eight" and was frustrated with "Django Unchained," those were well-made films with some great style and artistry to them.  "The Harder They Fall" is an exploitation-style western in a similar vein that doesn't quite meet the mark, and it's largely because the director is trying a little too hard to be Tarantino.  It's a very enjoyable and watchable film, but it's flaws are pretty glaring.

To start, the cast is absolutely spectacular.  Lead by Jonathan Majors, Idris Elba, Regina King, Lakeith Stanfield, Delroy Lindo, and Zazie Beetz, the nearly all-black ensemble really gets the chance to shine.  I've been watching these talented actors in so many prestige films over the last few years, and it is such a joy to see them tackle a really pulpy, really over the top piece of genre filmmaking, and clearly have a blast while doing it.  We have our heroes, a gang lead by Nat Love (Majors), who stick to robbing other robbers, while Love hunts down the killers of his parents one by one.  Then there are the villains, lead by the evil Rufus Black (Elba), Trudy Smith (King), and unscrupulous Cherokee Bill (Stanfield).  In the mix are also Love's ex, Stagecoach Mary (Beetz), and lawman Bass Reeves (Lindo).  

First time feature director Jeymes Samuel has a background in music, and the soundtrack is easily the best thing about the film, mixing new songs written by Samuel with older classics.  Several members of the cast can be heard contributing vocals.  The film exists in a heightened, comic-book version of the Old West, where all the characters are based on real historical figures, but reimagined to be this outlandish collection of heroes and villains.  They pull off daring heists and robberies and rescues.  They're dressed to perfection in colorful clothes that match their equally stylized surroundings - a white town they visit is literally painted white.  The action scenes are dynamic and exciting to watch, though more brutal than the comic-book trappings would suggest.

The biggest trouble, unfortunately, is the pacing.  "The Harder They Fall" runs an unwieldy, unnecessary 139 minutes.  While the film moves at a brisk clip whenever there's action or suspense sequences, it often comes to a dead halt without them, and drags interminably.  And while most of the stylistic conceits work, some don't.  The anachronistic dialogue is fine for posturing and one-liners, but becomes awkward for everything else.   The love scenes between Majors and Beetz are especially dire, as there's little chemistry between these two.  They both look great holding firearms or getting into brawls, but I don't think either of them manage to deliver a memorable line.  On the other hand, they both really had to fight to keep my attention in the company of scene-stealers like Lakeith Stanfield, and energetic up-and-comers like RJ Cyler and Daneille Deadwyler, who play the other members of Nate Love's gang.  

When it comes down to it, the star of the show is Idris Elba as Rufus Black.  He gets the best entrance, the best backstory, and the best badass moments.  He dominates every scene he's in without breaking a sweat.  Regina King runs a close second, sporting a Creole accent and a lot of attitude.  These two play the truly larger-than-life characters of the bunch, and the performances are so charismatic that it makes me sad I didn't get to see this film on a much bigger screen.  Unfortunately, they also have far less screen time than I found acceptable, and I felt every moment that they weren't there.     

"The Harder They Fall" is certainly worth a watch.  Jeymes Samuel is talented and not afraid of making bold choices.  I love that the title sequence is actually at the beginning of the film, where it gets to serve as an introduction to all the different characters.  I love that there's a trans hero character, that Beetz and King get the best fight sequence, and that there's reggae on the soundtrack.  The execution is messy and uneven and this is clearly not the film that it could have been with some tighter editing and  smarter writing.  But it's a promising film, one I sincerely hope will be a stepping stone to better things.      

 

---

So, About "Eternals"

I don't think that "Eternals" is a very good film, but I liked it anyway.  It breaks from the usual Marvel Cinematic Universe formula in some significant ways, and is ambitious and weird and looks great.  It also has way too many characters, and commits the cardinal sin of focusing on the most boring ones.

"Eternals" is about a group of ten immortal beings who are sent by the god-like alien Arishem to Earth in the distant past.  They're charged with protecting humanity from monsters called Deviants, but are not to interfere with Earth's development otherwise.  Each of the Eternals has their own specific superpower, such as flying, controlling minds, or firing energy blasts.  We catch up with one of them, the matter manipulator Sersi (Gemma Chan), in the present day, centuries after the Eternals split up as a group and went their separate ways.  When she and her human boyfriend Dane (Kit Harrington) are attacked by a Deviant - thought to be long extinct - she knows it's time for a family reunion.  

The other Eternals include illusion generator Sprite (Lia McHugh), warrior woman Thena (Angelina Jolie), flyer Ikaris (Richard Madden), super-strong Gilgamesh (Don Lee), speedster Makkari (Lauren Ridloff), technology guru Phastos (Brian Tyree Henry), energy blaster Kingo (Kumail Nanjiani), mind controller Druig (Barry Keoghan), and their leader Ajak (Salma Hayek).  Through flashbacks, we learn the history of the group, and their relationships and clashes with each other.  It's a purposefully diverse set of actors, representing all races, with LGBT representation, and one mute Eternal using sign language.  However, the group comes off as a familiar extended family regardless.  Several of them have paired off as romantic couples, and "Eternals" features the MCU's first, brief sex scene.  There are also longstanding rivalries, tensions, and points of contention, like how much involvement to have with humankind, and how much they should trust in Arishem.        

 

I like that "Eternals" is a film with some real scope to it, with a story that takes place over eons, and with characters who grow and change.  I like that a big part of it is about emotions and personal connections, especially Sersi coming to terms with her feelings about her ex, Ikaris.  Alas, Gemma Chan is one of the weaker actresses on the roster, but gets the lion's share of the screentime, while Salma Hayek and Angelina Jolie are playing fairly minor characters.  Chloe Zhao makes sure that each of the Eternals gets their big moments, and we get to know all of them to some extent, but this means that "Eternals" runs an exhausting 156 minutes, and a lot of it is just taken up with finding one scattered Eternal after another, followed by a repetitive fight scene.  The Deviants are pretty badly handled - for the most part they're just your typical CGI monsters, though it's suggested that they're capable of being more. 

  

This is not to knock the action.  "Eternals" is perfectly fine as far as the spectacle goes.  Zhao sets many of her action scenes in interesting natural environments, creating the opportunity for some really striking cinematography.  The Eternals' designs are very appealing, with a motif of golden astrological signs and geometric symbols recurring in their costumes and their powers.  But no matter how much eye candy there is onscreen, it's hard to get away from how often the audience is asked to suspend their disbelief about everything from the Eternals affecting human history to the tin ear dialogue.  I appreciate that the film wants to grapple with big concepts and ideas, but it's just not good at doing that in cinematic ways.  Also, while it's great that the movie actively subverts several tropes, like gloomy mind-reader Druig actually not being a secret traitor in the third act, there are similar narrative decisions that wind up being confounding - one major character just sits out the entire final battle for no good reason.  Was the actor unavailable?  Did we lose a few scenes somewhere?  

I still enjoyed "Eternals," because at this point Marvel's operation  is well-oiled enough that it can ensure even the roughest of their creations stays at least moderately entertaining throughout.  And I'm glad they let Chloe Zhao make a film a little more heartfelt and earnest than usual, and take some chances on unusual faces.  The movie's not great, but as far as MCU films go, I'd rank it squarely in the middle of the pack.  And I look forward to the return of the Eternals soon.        

---

"Hawkeye" and "The Witcher," Year Two

Clint Barton, aka Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner), has always been the everyman hero of the Avengers, and I expected that there would be no difficulty building a miniseries around the character.  However, the real star of "Hawkeye" is actually Hailee Steinfeld, who plays newcomer Kate Bishop.  She's a young superhero wannabe who stumbles into a bad situation and gets way in over her head.  The two cross paths in New York City during the holiday season, and have to team up to recover some stolen property, defeat the bad guys, and sort out Kate's complicated family issues, in order to get Clint back to his loved ones in time for Christmas.  It's a very light, very fun show with no shortage of humor and irreverence.

Of all the Disney+ MCU series so far, "Hawkeye" feels the most off-the-cuff, and that's mostly in a good way.  Everything's kept at a very street level, very human scale.  Enemies include professional assassins, a badass deaf mercenary played by Alaqua Cox, dudebro Russians from the local Tracksuit Mafia, and a few higher difficulty foes whose identities I will not spoil, but no world-ending or even national crisis level events loom.  This allows for elements as silly as Kate being saved by an adorable stray dog who loves pizza, Clint encountering a LARPer enclave, and a grand finale endangering the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree.  It was a canny decision to play up the lighthearted Christmas aesthetics, which help "Hawkeye" to stand out from all the other Marvel shows.  

I don't feel that the Clint Barton character has needed much of an upgrade, as some have suggested, but it's nice to see him get more of the spotlight, and just enjoy watching his day-to-day struggle to be a superhero while also being a dad, husband, and non-super-powered human being.  The show does a fantastic job of adding backstory for the Barton without dwelling on his past.  Early on, it's revealed he has to use hearing aids due to being in the middle of too many explosions.  His relationship with his unflinching wife Laura (Linda Cardellini) is fascinating.  Kate Bishop, however, completely takes over the show and I kind of love her for it. Her superhero growing pains are a lot of fun, and her relationship with her security tech mogul mother, played by Vera Farmiga, is awfully relatable.  Hailee Steinfeld is such a great addition to the MCU roster.   I hope to see more of her and Renner soon.

Now, the second season of "The Witcher" strikes me as an improvement over the first, if only because it's stopped the annoying game of jumping around the timeline, and the major characters get to spend more time interacting.  Well, Geralt and Ciri do, while Yennefer spends the first half of the season off on her own adventure.  She's lost her magic after the events of the first season, and getting it back may pit her against her former allies.  Meanwhile, Geralt and Ciri cool their heels in the Witcher stronghold of Kaer Morhen with Geralt's old mentor, Vesemir (Kim Bodnia), where Ciri decides to train as a Witcher.  Other significant players include Fringilla (Mimi M. Khayisa), Yennefer's rival who is allied with Nilfgaard, and an elven sorceress, Francesca (Mecia Simson).  Jaskier the bard also shows up eventually, though I have no idea how his timeline makes any sense.

The politics of the "Witcher" universe are a little less murky this time around.  I'm still not clear on how any of the kingdoms relate to each other geographically, but at least the various factions are better defined.  The oppressed elf population gets a lot of screen time this year, and the ongoing subplots involving Francesca and Fringilla at least kept my attention, even if both characters still need a lot of work.  The main characters fare better, especially as Geralt and Ciri get to do some father-daughter bonding, and Ciri finally gets to be more active and self-actualized.  I was a little disappointed with the new insights into Witcher lore, however.  The comfortable winter digs at Kaer Morhen run contrary to Geralt's childhood of misery and abuse hinted at in the first season.  Kim Bodnia, who you might remember as Villanelle's handler from "Killing Eve," is positively cuddly here.

"The Witcher" is still far from a prestige production, preferring B-movie style action, creature battles, and gore.  However, it does a decent job of getting the momentum rolling for the next phase of the show that it's building up to.  Its tone is more focused on straightforward adventuring now - campy "Xena" style antics are kept to a minimum, and the production design leans toward the creepy and horrific.  I miss some of the humor and sexual misadventures, but I'm sure this will be better for the show in the long run.  It's not one of my favorites, but remains diverting enough that I'll probably stick around for the long haul.  I don't expect the show will continue to improve much, but it's improved enough to keep me happy.

---

Trailers! Trailers! 2022 Incoming Edition

All links below lead to Trailer Addict. 

The Northman - This is going to be the biggest project Robert Eggers has tackled to date, a Viking revenge epic with an all-star cast.  The trailer is fabulous, setting out the whole story and really hammering home the central theme of violent revenge.  This is based on the life of a historical figure who is considered the inspiration for Shakespeare's "Hamlet," and Bjork (onscreen again after all this time!) is playing a witch, so I'm anticipating sinister supernatural doings in abundance.      

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness - I've been progressively getting less and less excited about this Marvel film after seeing what the other Marvel properties have been doing with the multiverse concept, and Doctor Strange's appearances in "What If…?" and the latest "Spider-man" film.  I wasn't too impressed with the first "Strange" film, and the last time Sam Raimi made something for Disney, the result was "Oz the Great and Powerful."  The trailer doesn't do much to quell any of my fears, but I guess we'll see. 

The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent - Warning, this one's a red band trailer.  Honestly, this is a movie that I think looked better on paper.  Nicholas Cage having to meet and entertain one of his wacky criminal superfans in order to save his family is bonkers enough to be really entertaining - so as long as Cage really commits to the idea.  "JCVD" and "Being John Malkovitch" have pulled off similarly meta premises.  This one, however, has yet to show me that it knows what it's doing.  Or maybe I'm just not as much of a Cage fan as the writers of this film are.

The Black Phone - This horror film from the creators of "Sinister" was originally supposed to be a January release, but it was moved to a summer release date based on positive early response.  I think this is one of those cases where it's better not to watch the trailer at all since it gives away too much of the plot.  However, the premise of a kid trapped in a murderer's basement, trying to escape before he becomes the next victim, is fantastic.  And it doesn't hurt that Ethan Hawke will be playing the murderer.  

Everything Everywhere All at Once - Who says that only the superhero films can have fun with the multiverse concept?  This year, I think that Michelle Yeoh and the Daniels are going to give the MCU some real competition on this front.  Yeoh starring in a film like this also makes me so happy.  I've been regularly watching her in supporting roles in Hollywood films for decades now, and she's finally getting some of the spotlight next year with this film and the new "Witcher" spinoff series.  

The Lost City - Just when I thought that a "Romancing the Stone" reboot was off the table, along comes Sandra Bullock with her newest romantic comedy/action comedy combo.  Bullock as the romance writer who gets swept up in one of her own plots is pretty standard stuff, but Channing Tatum as her idiot cover model, who insists on tagging along, is inspired.  And Brad Pitt popping up, seemingly just because he can, makes this the funniest trailer I've seen for anything so far this year.  

The Outfit - I don't know anything about this movie except from what I've seen in the trailer, and honestly I'm sold.  The cast is great, the setup - a British tailor gets mixed up in the dealings of a Chicago crime family - looks very solid, and the filmmaking looks gorgeous.  No surprise that Dick Pope shot this.  Winter's been a good season for smaller crime and thriller films lately, and between this and Guy Richie's latest, "Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre," the season doesn't seem so glum.

Turning Red - It took me a while to come to the realization that PIXAR's "Turning Red" is about a Asian-Canadian girl in the '90s, so we're talking about someone pretty close to my demographic.  I've never seen a lead character like that in an animated film this high profile before, and I've got to say the prospect is an exciting one.  "Turning Red" will be directed by Domee Shi, who made the adorable "Bao" short, and I'll be secretly treating this as an unofficial spinoff of the "Ranma ½" universe, unless I hear otherwise.     

---

"Pig" and "Lamb"

And let's get weirder.

"Pig" is easily the best film that Nicolas Cage has been part of in a while, and it's one that relies in part on the screen persona that Cage has cultivated in recent years: the over-the-top, violent maniac from films like "Mandy" and "Willy's Wonderland."  At the start of "Pig," the film sets up a scenario that recalls "John Wick."  Cage plays a recluse named Rob, who lives alone in remote Oregon, with only his truffle-hunting pig for company.  He ekes out a living finding and selling truffles to an ambitious young dealer named Amir (Alex Wolff).  Then one night, Rob is assaulted and the pig stolen.  This sends Rob back to his old stomping grounds in Portland, where he and Amir search for the pig and Rob's traumatic past is uncovered.

I don't want to get into too many spoilers, because discovering how the narrative of "Pig" unfolds is one of its chief pleasures.  However, I will say that aside from a few brief clashes, "Pig" is not a violent film and I would not describe it as a revenge story.  It's a weirdly affectionate love letter to Portland and its culinary community.  It's a deeply sad character portrait of a man undone by loss.  It's a stealth foodie movie.  And it's also a very good showcase for Nicolas Cage's talents as an actor.  The movie is entirely too odd for him to get any awards attention, but Cage is never anything less than totally committed to this role, and it's wonderful to see.  There's one monologue in particular that is worth the price of admission by itself.

"Pig" is the directorial debut of Michael Sarnoski, who also wrote and edited the film.  I admire his careful balance of tones and tension, and his ability to find images of nocturnal beauty in unexpected places.  He's not afraid of silence, which makes the scenes of Rob in his solitude hit so much harder.  The film is emotional in ways that I wasn't expecting, and discovering the actual path of Rob's journey is so rewarding.  I never thought, going into this movie, that I would be making comparisons to "Paris, Texas" and Atom Egoyan's "Exotica," but it's been a weird film year,  and "Pig" is one of it's better surprises.      

Now, on to "Lamb," which I was expecting to be an odd beast, and it sure didn't disappoint.  This Icelandic feature from Valdimar Johannsson is about a couple, Maria (Noomi Rapace) and Ingvar (Hilmir Snær Guðnason), who are sheep farmers.  One day, one of the sheep gives birth to a strange lamb, which the couple feel compelled to raise and treat as a child.  They name her Ada, and try to ignore the oddity of the situation, and the increasing signs that something is terribly wrong.  The sudden arrival of Ingvar's vagabond brother Pétur (Bjorn Hlynur Haraldsson) just adds fuel to the fire.

I wasn't surprised at all to learn that Hungarian director Béla Tarr was one of the film's executive producers.  "Lamb" feels like it occupies the same universe as some of his films, full of sinister unseen forces and horrors that spring forth from the natural world.  The pace is very slow, full of long, static shots of the desolate farm and surrounding country.  There's a cosmic menace at work in the story's mechanics, embodied by a mysterious presence that haunts the protagonists.  However, despite the strong premise and wealth of interesting ideas in the film, I don't feel like "Lamb" quite pays off.

Obviously, "Lamb" is meant to be allegorical, but the allegory is too vague to connect to any real world fears beyond vague discomfort about the exploitation of animals.  We don't learn enough about the characters beyond a few surface facts, and they don't really have personalities aside from reacting to various stimuli and stressors.  The big reveal is pretty good, but it's hard to discern what message we're supposed to take away from the film - and from how the film purposefully sets itself up as a modern day fable, there's clearly meant to be a message.  

The execution is good, and the mood is unsettling, but I don't think that "Lamb" quite achieves what it's meant to.  It'll attract plenty of fans because of the sheer strangeness of its premise, but it doesn't seem quite sure of what it's trying to say, and can only tantalize rather than truly move.     

---

"Titane" and "I'm Your Man"

Let's get foreign and weird.

"Titane" won the Palme D'Or at Cannes last year for Julia Ducournau, and it's the wildest feature to have won the award in recent memory.  Frankly, just trying to describe this thing is a challenge.  Let's call it a fable about a woman named Alexia (Agathe Rousselle), who is wired differently from the norm.  As a child she's involved in a car accident that leaves her with a metal plate in her head, a gnarly scar over her ear, and an attraction to cars.  She's also deeply misanthropic, and her violent behavior as an adult forces her to go on the run.   Eventually, she deceives her way into the life of an aging fire department captain, Vincent (Vincent Adrien), who offers unconditional love, and she finally learns to connect to another human being.

Due to fear of spoilers, I'm leaving out a lot of strange, unsettling elements of body horror, mostly related to Alexia's relationship to cars - maybe she is a machine herself, or becoming one.  There are also some disturbingly visceral incidents of violence, including sexual violence, in the first half that lead me to believe that the story was leading somewhere very different from where it ended up going.  Ducournau is fantastic at juggling tones and emotional states, and I was constantly steeling myself for more unpleasantness at every turn.  Like her last film, "Raw," the way she juxtaposes her heroine's monstrousness with her vulnerability is so striking.  There's an unusual intensity to the way Alexia's body is used in particular.  We see her naked form constantly, sometimes sexualized, sometimes the source of violence and horror, sometimes a symbol of potent, uncontrollable power.  

Agathe Rousselle's performance is the main event, one that is heavily physical and often silent.  She broods and glowers and is able to transform and contort herself into very different forms.  You can read so many things into Alexia's struggle - gender issues, mental health problems, and a whole can of worms about female sexuality and motherhood.  I often have trouble connecting to the work of the more extreme European directors, like Gaspar Noe and Claire Denis, who use similar images of violence, nudity, and alienation.  With "Titane," however, there's also a tenderness and an empathy that comes through in even the most brutal frames, and I found myself connecting with Alexis almost in spite of myself.

Now, over to Germany and "I'm Your Man," Maria Schrader's lovely, low-key new science-fiction film.  An archaeologist, Anna (Maren Eggert), is recruited to test out a new android who has been designed to be her perfect romantic partner.  This is Tom (Dan Stevens), a talkative, unfailingly pleasant character who is determined to integrate himself fully in Anna's life, though Anna is stubbornly resistant to the idea.  She doesn't have any interest in romance and is deeply suspicious of Tom and all that he represents.  However, as she interacts more with Tom, and shares more about her life and circumstances, the situation becomes more complex.

We've seen plenty of media about human beings and their relationships with robots in recent years, mostly genre projects that involve the robots standing in for exploited and subjugated groups.  What's interesting about "I'm Your Man" is that it actually grapples with the themes of humanity's relationship with technology head-on.  Dan Stevens' performance is showy and exaggerated, playing Tom as cheerfully inhuman and eager to be the most perfect boyfriend ever, with a bag of tricks that are fun to see brought out, one by one.  And it takes a while to realize that grumpy Anna is actually the far more interesting character.  As she's tempted by the companionship offered by Tom, it begins to feel more and more curious why she resists, and resists so strongly.  Untangling the reasons for her hostility and mistrust take up most of the film, and in the end the story is more about Anna's humanity than Tom's.

And I think that's why I appreciate "I'm Your Man" so much.  It's small scale, intimate and empathetic, committed to being a film about relationships and difficult feelings in spite of its flashy robots and holograms.  Tom turns out to be a foot in the door to get us acquainted with Anna, with her life and her responsibilities.  She's one of the most admirable leads of any science fiction film I've seen in a while, and Maren Eggert does great work in the part.  And it's nice to know that I can still be surprised by a film like this, one that looks so familiar, but has unexpected depths.      

---

"The Matrix Resurrections" and "Encanto"

Here are some quick thoughts on some recent holiday streaming premieres…

There's no good reason for a fourth "Matrix" movie to exist, and co-writer/director Lana Wachowski is keenly aware of this.  "The Matrix Resurrections" is a strange, winding journey that starts out in a world where the original "Matrix" films were a video game series, created by Thomas "Neo" Anderson (Keanu Reeves), who subsequently had a mental breakdown and attempted suicide.  Now he's working on a new sequel for a Warner Brothers subsidiary, surrounded by sycophants, and constantly being distracted by an attractive mom (Carrie-Ann Moss) at the local cafe.  Significant chunks of the film acts as a metacommentary on living with the success of the original "Matrix" trilogy, and having to figure out a way to revisit it.  

This is not the only genre franchise film that has taken this approach, but it surprised me how much "Resurrections" digs into its examination of nostalgia, leans into the deja vu, and remains so self-aware about what it's doing.  Clips of the original film are used as flashes of Neo's memory throughout, similar to the way Danny Boyle's "Trainspotting" sequel incorporated bits of its original film.  There are scenes of writers discussing what made the trilogy special, and trading fan theories.  One character even has a nice rant on how "The Matrix" furthered along the blockbuster-fication of the movies.  Eventually the plot gets down to the business of chases and fights and gun battles, introducing new characters like Bugs (Jessica Henwick) and The Analyst (Neil Patrick Harris), and new versions of characters like Morpheus (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II) and Agent Smith (Jonathan Groff).  Though the sequence of events is familiar, the universe gets updated considerably, checking in on old friends and showing how the status quo has changed during the long gap between films.

However, "Resurrections" keeps the story simple.  Neo wants to be with Trinity, and everything boils down to reconnecting the two of them.  Though it shows off a lot of fancy CGI and stunt work, this "Matrix" film is far less interested in set pieces and new effects technology.  Instead, all the narrative emphasis is put on Neo reorienting himself and learning to prioritize his feelings.  "Resurrections" is emphatically a love story, and how much you're invested in Neo and Trinity's relationship is going to determine how well the movie works for you.  Fortunately, Keanu Reeves and Carrie-Anne Moss are as magnetic as ever, and I had no problem taking some improbable leaps with them.  Those "Matrix" fans more interested in the philosophical and visually bombastic elements of the series, however, may come away less satisfied with its "love conquers all" attitude.  

Now, Disney Animation's latest feature is "Encanto," a musical set in Colombia, with songs written by Lin-Manuel Miranda.  We're introduced to the magical Madrigal family, a clan of refugees who were granted a "miracle" long ago when they needed it most.  An enchanted haven, an "encanto" was created, along with a magical, sentient house, "Casita," for the family to inhabit, which became the cornerstone of a thriving new community.  Each Madrigal family member was also granted a superpower, their "gift" - all except for one granddaughter, Mirabel (Stephanie Beatriz).  However, Mirabel is also the only one who seems to notice that cracks are forming in the house and the Madrigal family, and she decides to take the initiative and save the family's miracle.  

"Encanto" is packed full of detail and color and motion - maybe a little too full, because it's yet another animated film that I frequently wished would slow down long enough for me to appreciate more of it.  And Lin-Manuel Miranda's rapid-fire lyrical style sure doesn't help combat the sensory overload.  However, this is a film designed to be replayed over and over again, and I found myself being infected by the catchy earworms regardless of how I felt about the music or story.  As with all of Disney's recent films featuring under-represented cultures, like "Raya and the Last Dragon," and "Moana," "Encanto" is very carefully constructed to show the best of Colombia, adding bits of Spanish dialogue and references for Colombian viewers.  The specificity of using one country's culture instead of an amalgam of multiple places helps the creators' efforts feel more genuine. 

More importantly, "Encanto" has a stronger story than most.  Mirabel's struggle to be seen and appreciated in a family where everyone is special is very relatable.  The film explores all kinds of family issues, from sibling rivalries to intergenerational trauma to stifling performance pressure.  It's not just Mirabel who's struggling, but also the family matriarch, Alma (Maria Cecilia Botero), Mirabel's older sisters Luisa (Jessica Darrow) and Isabela (Diane Guerro), and her uncle Bruno (John Leguizamo), the black sheep of the family.  I found the ending a little iffy, and the rules of the miracle and the magic are vague at best, but "Encanto" is much more substantial and dramatically interesting than the usual hero quests of something like "Moana."  And I think it has a much better shot at becoming a Disney perennial.

---