Deb Havener

I wanted to give this 5 stars BEFORE I sat down to watch it. I really did. But some of that Disney glitter was missing. AFTER I watched it I was going to give Encanto 2 stars but upped it to 3 because just getting art to the screen is a huge task. The art in Encanto is beautiful. The colors are rich. And the message is a good one - about how perfection can make us crack. What's missing is the pacing. The story seems to lag whenever anyone bursts into song - which leads me to the next problem with Encanto. The songs all had the same vibe, same feel - with the exception of We Don't Talk About Bruno. The opening number was sung too fast with a ton of characters introduced by our lead - and in order to keep them all straight they had her sing it again, in parts. We get that Mirabella is re-singing it for the village kids who keep pestering her about HER magic gift - and she would much rather sing about her amazing family (again) than herself. Unfortunately, the song seems to stretch on longer than it should because of that. Maybe if they slowed the tempo so Mirabella could sing it with clarity the audience wouldn't have to sit through a repeat. Probably the most cringe-inducing song was sung by Isabella and Mirabella. It seemed to have all the frilly things that little girls traditionally love; flowers, clouds, sparkles, dancing on the rooftops! But the magic seemed overplayed by the commercialism of it. There was definitely a "Barbie" figure feel to the song. I can almost hear tons of little girls begging their parents to buy them a beautiful Isabella doll that makes flowers. I don't want to completely disregard the music, however. Some of the rhythms were fun and danceable. But the melodies, the lyrics - I wanted more craftsmanship from them. What makes a Disney song a classic, memorable song? One that you can hum and sing when you leave the theater. The only thing I can conjure up are a few lines from the We Don't Talk About Bruno song. On the plus side, it's nice to see a lead character who represents what most kids look like before they fall victim to the world of advertisements. Mirabella is a lovely representation of most kids - even though her voice doesn't quite fit the character. Overall, the movie was too long and the soundtrack overdone, yet it was a tad better than Frozen 2. But go see it anyway. See it with your kids and let them soak in the beautiful digital FX and colors.