Descendants: The Rise of Red
Looking to further extend the Descendants brand, Descendants: The Rise of Red offered the first spin-off film without any of the original core characters. Anne McClain was brought back as Uma, who takes up her new role as new principal for the school, but she's really here only to kick off events (by knocking down the first domino in allowing Wonderland into Auradon) rather than partake in them.
Our new characters are Red (Kylie Cantrall), the daughter of the Queen of Hearts (Rita Ora), and Chloe (Malia Baker), the daughter of Cinderella (Brandy Norwood). Red's invitation to join Auradon Prep allows her mother access to the school where she plans to right some great wrong (that is never fully explained or shown) that took place during her time as a student there. Having spent her life attempting to curtail her mother's evil, Red attempts to solve the situation by traveling back in time and setting things right (and Chloe gets pulled along for the ride).
What follows is a odd-couple buddy film of the two untrusting protagonists walking through the same sets which have been re-dressed to be in their mothers' time. The script gets a bit lost at times, at times becoming borderline incoherent, and simply ends before it gets to the big payoff of the much discussed Castlecoming dance. I'm not sure if the project ran out of time or money, but it has the feel of a film shooting scenes before they've been written.
The leads, with Baker stuck in the worst wig of the franchise (which is saying something in franchise overstuffed with them), are marginally fine, but Red comes off far better than Chloe. Red's best scene is her introduction as a vigilante in Wonderland before any of this started, and the incredibly bland Chloe doesn't really get one (something the next film will attempt to rectify).
The core of the film, along with saving the day (of course) is both young women getting to know their mothers at their age. Ruby Rose Turner is cast as the sweet-natured girl who would become the Queen of Hearts and Morgan Dudley plays the more classic version of Cinderella. Like the older versions of the characters, both are pretty much one-note.
Descendants: The Rise of Red was the first of the franchise to premiere on Disney+ rather than the Disney Channel, but, despite its Wonderland trappings (by far the most interesting setting of the film which we get to see so little of), it's still very much a Disney Channel TV-movie. It's a misstep for the franchise, but it does allow for the next sequel to play off the idea of the consequences of Red and Chloe's meddling with time.
- Title: Descendants: The Rise of Red
- IMDb: link
