Every Post-2010 Disney Animated Movie Reviewed by a Disney Cynic

    I have a strange relationship with Disney's animated output; on one hand, I adore well-made CG animation and Disney is obviously the best at that. On the other, when a film of theirs doesn't work for me it irks me to the point of intense dislike. So there is this large disparity between films of theirs that I just hate and ones I absolutely love. Here, I will attempt to break down each film and what works or does not work, sorted by order of release. 

 Tangled

    I went into this movie wanting to hate it. Everything about it screamed generic Disney princess movie, which I am not a big fan of usually. However, the charming cast of characters and the visuals really won me over to the point of actually caring about what happened towards the end and this is easily among the best Disney movies for me. One of the most gorgeous sequences I've seen in an animated film is the lantern scene from this very film, pictured above. 

    I really like how off-the-wall quirky Rapunzel is and Flynn is probably the best romantic interest for the main character out of any of these movies. The hair animation is also beyond impressive even today. The only bad things I can say about this movie are the forgettable songs and the obvious animal sidekick characters that just act like dogs so they can sell toys. Overall, great movie that makes a strong case for CG animation in general. 

Rating: 4/5

Wreck-It Ralph

    It's... fine? Considering what the story is, this movie could have been a lot better in the hands of Dreamworks. It has an interesting, subversive premise that is, unfortunately, confined to the Disney formula so the plot eventually becomes predictable and generic despite some of the set dressing being quite different from the norm. 

    The villain is very weak and the movie does not do much with the whole video game medium. There was potential for a lot more humour and plot elements than what is ultimately there. Ralph is a good enough character, but the supporting cast does not leave much of an impression. If you want to see this movie but much better, watch Megamind. 

Rating: 2.5/5

Frozen

    Oh boy. What do I even say about this one? I liked it fine enough when I first watched it. Then it got so overplayed, overrated, over everything that I grew to hate it? The music I actually think is quite good but it is almost impossible to just take it as its own thing now without thinking of the massively annoying cultural zeitgeist it created. 

    The movie itself is probably the most generic movie Disney has ever made. The twist villain is awful, there are no real stakes at any point, the characters are all paper-thin. The deer. Acts. Like. A goddamn dog. Again. This movie also started a trend I find really irksome now; superpowers in non-superhero kids animated movies. I'm sure that existed before but this, along with the meteoric rise of Marvel, has essentially made it so that every current animated movie has to have superpowers in it. The only joy I get out of this now is thinking about how Howard Ratner's wife is the voice of Elsa

Rating: 2.5/5, 0.5/5 if we take into account the cultural zeitgeist 

Big Hero 6

    It's like if you took any sort of subversive edge or character out of The Incredibles. That's all this movie is; a superhero movie that's not even as good as Disney's own Marvel movies. Bland characters story, even visual design. The action sequences don't stand out much either. Overall, not much to it at all. This is a shame because an animated, original superhero movie set in Japan could have been the coolest thing in the world. 

Rating: 2/5

Zootopia

    Just like Wreck-It Ralph, this is another concept and world that could have been much more interesting in the hands of a more risqué studio. An initially intriguing set-up and a few choice sight-gags that are genuinely creative and funny quickly devolve into yet another generic Disney romp, lame twist villain, and late second act main duo separation and all. I always hear praise for the clear racism allegories made within the film but I found the execution of those concepts to be rather shallow and obvious and, ultimately, safe. 

    Character design and the aforementioned humour are quite good and there are aspects to the world that are visually arresting, but I ended up just not caring about anything that happened and groaning at the usual Disney movie clichés. 

Rating: 2.5/5

Moana

    Moana I have always been conflicted on. There are aspects to it I love; namely the characters and the music. This is easily the strongest modern musical from Disney judging by just the songs alone. "How Far I'll Go" is the best character establishing song in their entire catalog. The sequence towards the end in which the conflict with the main threat is resolved is visually arresting and the song that plays during is gorgeous; it is a moment of cinematic brilliance in a largely factory-made movie. 

    There are so many aspects to the movie I just plain dislike. Remember how Frozen introduced superpowers as a thing that now appears in non-superhero movies? Moana suffers very much from that. The art direction is also confusing and slapped together. Remember the entire giant crab sequence? That scene feels like it's from a different movie entirely, not to mention entirely stolen from Shrek. The plot also does nothing to alleviate what I dislike about many of these movies but clearly the various elements here did not coalesce into me ignoring those annoyances like I do in Disney's stronger films. 

    Overall, I wish I liked this more because I really do love and connect to the music of this film and the two main characters are very charming. 

Rating: 3/5

Ralph Breaks the Internet

    This movie is in the same realm of bad as Ready Player One and Free Guy. Just constant references for the sake of references, bargain bin plot, and abandons everything that made the original movie unique. There is also no logical development for any character as they already went through their cars in the first movie so this one scrambles to slap something together and fails. It also has nothing to do with video games! It is essentially a big internet-fueled cash grab and severely irked me. All anyone remembers from this movie is the scene in which a bunch of other Disney characters show up. 

Rating: 1/5

Frozen 2

    I don't remember anything about this.

Rating: 0.5/5

Raya and the Last Dragon

    I literally just finished watching this an hour ago and barely remember anything about it. The side characters were annoying and pandering, the story was written by an algorithm, there were no striking visuals. The art design was very boring and the samey environments got old really quickly. Just nothing memorable or special about this at all. The dragon looks like Elsa with fur. 

Rating: 1/5

Encanto

    This may come as a surprise but I truly loved Encanto. This is the strongest modern Disney movie by far and eliminates many of the issues I have with their output. Superpowers are present but the main character is the only one who doesn't have any. Mirabel is my favourite Disney protagonist by far, she is effortlessly quirky and likable as well as sensible and mature but not without her flaws and insecurities. 

    The story is contained to this little, obnoxiously charming house and only involves the established family members. There is no villain, no twist, no late-second act breakup shenanigans, no dark force. The sequence of events is actually surprising and subversive and the resolution is kept at a purely personal level, not world-ending stakes. This movie is literally just a really good family drama with excellent songs and some of Disney's best animation and art design. It may look simple on the outside, but the world of Encanto is so endlessly inviting and warm it's hard to not get lost in it. The animation is not as showy as some of their other work, but the combination of colours and lighting creates their most visually pleasing film to date. 

    The supporting cast is literally all great and their stories present relatable problems that are not often brought up in animated movies. Did I mention the songs yet? "We Don't Talk About Bruno" is brilliant and overshadows the rest, somewhat, but each song is enjoyable and unique and the visuals all accompany them brilliantly. 

    I love this movie and it is what inspired me to even start thinking of writing this and rethinking Disney's other movies. 

Rating: 4.5/5