Cat Lover

It’s overall a great movie. Powerful message, great LGBTQ rep, I loved the humor, and the action was great. 10/10. I recommend 😭😭💙

I’d rate this movie a 7/10. Disney attempted to aim for the African American community demographic by using Black culture and a jazzy theme and soundtrack. I will say, they didn’t do a good job at this. Positives first, the soundtrack always had me plugging in headphones and they showcased Black businesses and the main protagonist as a Black man. However, aside from that, it just felt like a character in a “Black” environment. They failed to capture the true essence of African American culture in this movie. They just used the term “soul music” and jazz to attract an audience. Figuring that Disney used to have racist stereotypes in their older movies, I wasn’t surprised Soul did a bad job at this. They did an excellent job at capturing Hispanic cultures with Coco and Italian cultures with Luca. Why couldn’t they do the same for Soul? Aside from that, Joe I found to be a semi likable character. He was a bit annoying at times because he had a “musical destiny.” Again, typical Disney cliches. 22 was an enjoyable side kick and was a comedic relief, but once Joe and 22 switched bodies, the movie started going downhill for me. You see, the Land of the Dead of Coco for Soul is basically the Afterlife and the place where new souls are born. These souls find a purpose and what they would like to do when they grow up, and then they go to Earth as a baby. When these souls die as humans, they go to the Afterlife into a bright light called the “Great Beyond.” 22, however, is struggling to find her purpose… see where this is going? It was the Disney cliche that kinda ruined the movie for me. The main character helps another character find their true purpose and will achieve their destiny, yada-yada-yada. I wish they spent more time in the Afterlife or whatever it’s called more than Earth because they could’ve easily taken advantage of soul music like this. I’m giving a spoiler free review because I do recommend the movie. It’s a solid movie, but Luca was much better.

Absolutely love it. This movie had likable characters, enjoyable plot and story, and beautiful animation and environments. This movie made the main character actually relatable and not your stereotypical princess figure with a “destiny.” Raya actually didn’t need anyone to rescue her from a tower or did have to rely on some male figure to stop her from doing things she’s capable of. Sisu is easily my favorite character, with her hyped up and cheerful personality. Her human form is also just as great as her dragon form. I found the monkeys and con-baby to be a bit unneeded, but I still enjoyed when they got their own screen time. Good example being them invading the Fang Castle. Heartwarming story about trust and teamwork, and your enemies can become your friends. 5x better then Disney’s previous Disney + exclusive, Soul, since that movie failed to capture the view of African American music and charm. 8.5/10, definitely recommend it.

The movie isn’t… bad, but it failed to live up to my expectations. I was honestly really excited for this movie when it was announced. It was the perfect way to “continue” the Toy Story series without making an unnecessary sequel. (Toy Story 4 was a great movie but it wasn’t really needed.) The problem with this movie lies in how shallow, bland and somewhat predictable it is with a disappointing twist antagonist. This is supposedly the movie Andy saw which drove him to love Buzz Lightyear. The lesbian kiss scene I honestly could care less about, but I doubt it would be allowed for young kids to watch considering this movie was made in the 90s in the Toy Story universe. It felt forced and wasn’t really needed, but that’s not why I find the movie somewhat mediocre. The story tries to make itself a modern serious space movie when it just feels like a… generic modern serious space movie. The movie was made in the 90s supposedly so I was expecting more humor and that cheesy sci-fi side to it. It could’ve focused around Buzz just trying to defeat Zurg instead of completely ruining Zurg’s character. Sox was the only reason this movie is a 6/10 instead of a 5/10. He carried this movie and added to the plot.

Um… where do I start? This movie was… interesting and strange (in a good, decent way) to say the least. Also, this review is spoiler free. So read with comfort. I’ll get rid of the stuff I didn’t like out of the way. This movie’s whole message is on puberty and how impactful it is. Yes, that is true and for the first 30-40 mins I was actually watching the movie without knowing what would happen next, but then it started getting a bit predictable. The characters and the overall personalities of them were engaging and thrilling and I enjoyed the comedy between the main character and her friends. Mei Mei, the main character, the rebellious and energetic teen that’s going through a “change” turned into the red panda. The whole plot is that Mei Mei is tired of being her mother’s “perfect child” and she wants to be “cool” because she’s “changing” and is “finding her true identity.” It gets very predictable when Mei Mei becomes a panda. Is the mom going to get mad when she finds out her daughter is going out and sneaking out? Yes. Is Mei Mei going to fight her mom because her mom disagrees with her going through this “change?” Yes. What Disney did is that they made the mother the stereotypical mother that is overprotective of her child and it played in the whole woke aspect of this movie. The mom is being the villain because she’s not accepting her daughter because she wants to go through a change and be “cool” then they’re gonna find out they were being too harsh on each other and they’ll find their “identity” which is the red panda and so on. Also the climax prior to the ending between the mom and daughter I found a little rushed and pointless, but it’s not that big of a deal. Disney cliches and predictability aside, I did enjoy this movie. The animation was fluid and enjoyed the over exaggerated aesthetics and how colorful the movie was I absolutely loved. Because this movie is taking place in 2002, so they did an excellent job there. Secondly, I enjoyed all of the characters. The characters felt funny and well developed and ladies and gentlemen, can we just appreciate the comedy in this movie?? Mei Mei and her pals were super enjoyable and they were engaging. They were very good friends and it was nice to see how diverse the characters were in their personalities. I heard that people were saying this movie was “controversial” because of how the movie is describing body changes, periods and pads in a good way? Ok and? The movie showcased the message almost flawlessly in a comedic and kid friendly manner. You can’t keep this stuff hidden from your kids forever and Pixar got the message of puberty in a manner that isn’t too descriptive. I’d give this movie a 4/10. People are being a bit too over critical of this movie and I was one of those people when the trailers first dropped. But now that I ACTUALLY watched it, I found myself enjoying it a little bit. However, I am a little bummed this is a PIXAR not just Disney, but a PIXAR movie. It honestly is one of the more mediocre movies on Pixar standards. Ignoring that, it’s a solid movie you would expect from a lower budgeted company, but I found myself cringing a bit at some parts and a little surprised Pixar’s next movie would be just kinda… average. I recommend the movie but I don’t plan on rewatching it anytime soon. A swing and a miss.