Descendants 2

Hey,

On the 22^nd of July, the day after it was released, I watched Descendants 2 which I am absolutely in love with. Before I start to talk about this movie, I give you fair warning that this post will include spoilers.

The music for this film was great and I actually ended up buying the main songs: ‘Going down’ and ‘You and Me’. I found ‘You and Me’ to be a very inspirational song that portrays the message that finding yourself takes time but it is totally worth it and that you should be true to who you are, but also that there will always be someone there for you. The dance for the music was choreographed well as there was always something going on and you just couldn’t stop watching. I feel that the choreography for ‘You and Me’ worked in collaboration with the music well, as the was a period in the dance when each individual had their own part to perform in the middle of everyone which therefore linked to the message of finding yourself with people surrounding you and being there for you.

This film is really all about finding yourself and how you identify yourself. This is shown by Mal going back to the Isle, and the journey she goes on to find who she really is and that it doesn’t matter if you feel like you don’t fit in, you should be proud of who you are. This movie also portrays the message of loving someone for who they are, that is represented by the stained-glass window Ben made for Mal showing her true self with him by her side. I think that this film has showed the evolution of the main characters well. For Carlos, he has gone from having a fear of dogs to having a dog, Dude as a best friend and has started to develop feelings for Jane. Jay has gone from starting on a team for games to being the captain of the fencing team and being quite popular. Evie has developed into this fashion designer who is designing loads of people’s outfits for the Cotillion. She has also evolved in her relationship with Doug because she no longer believes that she needs a prince, but that she can be independent. Evie is probably the one who has evolved most from the first movie to this one.

Even Jane has evolved; she has gone from shy and not proud of who she is to confident and is organising the Royal Cotillion where Mal becomes a lady of the court. This also links well to what I feel is the message of the film, as she has learnt to be true to herself and proud of where she comes from. Finally, there is Mal who’s appearance has changed the most as at the beginning of the film her hair is blonde and she is getting ready to become a lady of the court. However, in this film you follow her on her journey as she becomes stressed about not fitting in and goes back to the Isle, but ends up returning to Auradon where she finds out that Ben knew who she was and loved her because of it. This demonstrates a good message about how everyone stresses about fitting in but that you just need to be yourself and stay true to who you are.

The CGI used in this film is amazing as they made Mal turn into a dragon with the scene playing smoothly. Uma was also changed into a Cecelia like her mother, Ursula. The thing I found great was how they created Uma and Mal in their dragon and Cecelia form to be 4 times bigger then Ben, and to create this scene in the water with a tiny Ben in the middle was just incredible. I also found the use of purple smoke to change Mal back to her human form spectacular and an amazing way to represent Mal being true to where she comes from as Maleficent could turn into a dragon, but also by using purple they show who Mal is, as through both the Descendants movies purple has been created as Mal’s colour like Evie and dark blue, which continues into the second movie as Evie wears a dark blue dress to the Cotillion.

The lighting used in this movie connotes good and evil as this movie start in Auradon that is portrayed use light lighting whereas when they travel to the Isle of the lost dim lighting is used. The outfits for the Isle and Auradon differed from each other which also connotes evil and good, as in the Isle it was dark clothing with leather jackets whereas in Auradon was smart clothing and dresses made of bright and light colours. Auradon had more technologies such as 3D printer and a smart TV’s which connotes that choosing to side with good is more rewarding.

This film kept to the traditional ideology of a fairytale by having the kiss of true love between Ben and Mal which breaks the spell that Uma had him under. I feel that it is clever how the writers and director has presented their inheritance of Mal, Ben and Uma in the ending: as Mal turns into a dragon like her mother, Maleficent; Uma turning into a Cecelia like her mother, Ursula and Ben roaring like his father, the beast. Ben’s roar also refers back to the first film as he roared before jumping into the lake on his first date with Mal.

I recommend watching both the first and second Descendants. I absolutely love them.

Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed my post,

Any comments or questions please use the contact box

Amy x