Descendants (2015 TV Movie) User Reviews

Charming with a bit too much Cheese

[jonbee-39559 · 6/10 · 28 August 2015]

I won't be the first in saying this movie was a bit slanted toward the cheesy, campy side of Disney. But then again, what Disney Channel movie isn't? I would like to point out, however, that the leads (Mal and Ben) were relatively believable (and likable) characters. I'm not spoiling the movie when I say that Dove Cameron did well at portraying an independent young woman with conflictions about living up to her mother's expectations. On the good side, Mitchell Hope made me believe he was the son of a Disney prince and princess (now king and queen).

Granted, there were several times I wanted to stop watching this film due to the gross amount of cheese and horrible scripts, but I stayed each time for those moments of sincerity and sometimes cleverness. I will probably watch this movie again, and maybe again after that. (Guilty pleasures...) Oh, and P.S. Kristin Chenoweth is an amazing actress who was clearly having fun with her role. She might have come off as mostly cartoonish, but there were some moments where she brought the dread-factor in some subtle ways.

I'm here for ALL of this

[matthewssilverhammer · 7/10 · 12 October 2019]

Hallmark movies: bad. Reimaginings of classic Disney properties: bad. Yet mixing those two wrongs together somehow makes a right. Descendants is better, smarter, more original, more entertaining, and thematically deeper than nearly every live-action Disney remake (still stan hard for Branagh's Cinderella).

Actually not too bad

[kngandr · 6/10 · 27 September 2015]

My daughter has constantly got the Disney channel on at home, so I'm treated with re-runs of the same old thing, even the movies are constantly on and I can get very fed up with it. So this movie was advertised to the hilt since the premier of Teen Beach 2, which was not as good as the first I might add. So after months of the advertising of the Descendants, I was fearing the worst. As much as I can't stand Cameron Boyce, I do like Dove Cameron from Liv and Maddie, which is the only show I can bear on Disney Channel.

After watching this movie, I was quite surprised, also I quite enjoyed it, Dove was brilliant as the daughter of Malificent, and Evie, was quite funny too. OK, the 2 boy villains were OK too. But the idea and story were actually pretty good, and some of the characters were quite fun to watch.

Also the parents of the villains were fun to watch, some of the things they say are quite amusing.

As far as Disney straight to TV movies go, I'd give it a go, of course, after months of repeating the film, you'll get fed up with it.

Overall watchable once or maybe 2 days later, twice, then you'll have had enough.

Worth a watch

[sarahshortgirl · 7/10 · 17 January 2016]

Definitely a cute little movie, and certainly worth a watch. The plot may be clichéd to a point, but the characters are pretty likable and the overall atmosphere is fun. Kristen Chenoweth is delightful as Maleficent, and even adds a couple of nods to Glinda, something which other Wicked fans are sure to pick up on. Unlike some family comedies, this one doesn't rely on crude humor to be funny and instead remains appropriate for all ages. Disney fans will enjoy the little tributes to some of the classics. I would definitely recommend this film to anyone looking for some light, musical entertainment. I'm looking forward to the sequel!

Nostalgia, hit and miss.

[kloklo_87 · 6/10 · 1 August 2015]

After the promotion this Disney Original Movie got, I had to go on great lengths to watch it.

The movie reminded me a lot of the 90's Disney Originals and held a familiar sensation which I will attribute it to HalloweenTown. The notions were childish and simple but totally in tune with the Disney Originals tradition which can be seen when Magic and Fantasy is involved.

The movie from the perspective of an adult or an overly mature teen might miss the point. Yes, this movie is not great but it managed to convince us that the silliness of the Golden Age of Disney Animation was not forgotten. On the contrary somewhere the Disney villains settled down and had kids. As a 90's kid I have to admit that I feel somewhat satisfied.

The plot is simple and the musical parts were not half bad but will pass with difficulty in the D.O.M. Hall of Fame as High School musical and HalloweenTown did. I believe that Disney could pull off a great series with this material which would have been perhaps hilarious but as a movie it's something less than Cinderella 1997 of Rodgers and Hammerstein but more of the last attempts to follow the last decade's magic/ghost/zombie and vampire trade.

Therefore, if you think about watching it beware. It may seem great and nostalgic but absurd on several points. In my opinion the plot at some points had great thoughts, badly put together but that's just my opinion. Young children and teens will probably like it but their parents will be a tad disappointed. This is an attempt to lure the young generation back to Disney's animation and live action traditions but parents and young adults alike will be emotionally conflicted.

Pretty unbearable

[tuckmccorm-1 · 3/10 · 14 August 2021]

My kids love these movies and they are definitely safe for kids viewing. I watched them once and now find any reason not to have to rewatch another minute ad my kids watch them over and over. The scripts are unbelievably cheesy, but the real offense is the music. The music is atrocious and cheesy. Lazy pop beats with whiny vocals. And the actors don't even pretend to try and do a good job syncing their lips to the music in the musical parts of the films. The other main issue I have is that every character in these movies is depicted as a selfish, entitled brat. Kids, adults, whatever - all spoiled brats. I don't really love my kids learning that sitting around on expensive furniture and whining about things is how life should be. Disney deathly could have done a better job of putting some actual admirable role models for kids in these movies.

looved it!

[snperera · 8/10 · 26 February 2017]

Wow, what a great movie!! So, High School Musical is my favorite Disney original musicals. But this is in 3rd place. The concept and story is so cool and I love the chemistry between all the actors. Dove Cameron is so great in this and you really believe in her character as Maleficent's daughter. The songs are great and they are so fun and they are so catchy! I love this movie and I am excited for the second one.

Pretty good for Disney Channel

[davispittman · 7/10 · 8 November 2017]

I wanna make it very clear that this is a Disney Channel original movie. It is not exactly held to the same level as other movies. I watched this film keeping in mind that it is made for TV and targeted towards children. I will say that I liked the casting, I thought the actors fit their individual roles. Also, the musical numbers and singing is very good mostly. There are a couple of the teenage actors that haven't quite gotten where they need to be as far as singing goes, but Kristen Chenoweth was of course incredible. How could you star in one of the biggest Broadway hits ever and not be superb at singing. So I really enjoyed her and most of the singing. I also liked the character Mal, and I liked Ben too, and their connection. They had great chemistry. The plot is very very predictable, you can for sure predict what is gonna happen next. Of course that is a thing with Disney Channel, so just know that. I think this film is pretty good for a child audience. 7/10 for Descendants.

Love every second of it. (All three of them)

[theenigma129 · 9/10 · 29 October 2019]

When I first heard & saw the news & trailer of this, I was feeling at the time "oooooo...... Thats a giant twist". All 3 movies are one of the greatests I've ever seen!!! Mal & evie are my most favorite vks of the whole bunch. They always behave as a old, but happy married couple. Dove Cameron and sofia carson are some of my most favorite actresses/singers as well.

Disney magic as seen through the lens of High School Musical

[narfexists · 6/10 · 21 August 2015]

Don't be fooled by the premise; Descendants is not a nostalgic romp through classic Disney, nor is it a gritty reinterpretation of the source material a la last year's Maleficent. It has much more in common with High School Musical, Camp Rock, and Teen Beach Movie. These film franchises are so stylistically similar that they may as well be considered a single series with Descendants as the next in line (pun intended.) It is a series Disney is likely going to milk until it stops being profitable, so you might as well enjoy it until then. These films are shallow, cheesy, and unintelligent, but they're also so harmless and fun that there's no point in hating them. The target audience is clearly preteens, but there is plenty of enjoyment for adults and older teenagers due to three main factors:

1. The films don't take themselves too seriously.

2. The musical numbers are catchy and memorable.

3. The actors seem to be having fun which makes it easy for the viewer to have fun.

Here's how Descendants stacks up against its predecessors:

1. The moral of the film is "do what makes you happy and be with the people who make you happy even if it's not what others expect from you." It is no coincidence that High School Musical, Camp Rock, and Teen Beach Movie have that message in common. Descendants somehow manages to be even more rushed and less subtle in conveying it. While the film is lighthearted as a whole, it takes breaks to be serious and enforce its moral which detracts from the experience.

2. The very first song, "Rotten to the Core" is a blend of dubstep and poor attempts to be edgy. It is every bit as cringe-worthy as it sounds. The later songs are significantly better with "Did I Mention" as a highlight, but I'd still choose the Teen Beach Movie soundtrack over this one in a heartbeat.

3. To be blunt, there is no chemistry between the actors whatsoever. Dove Cameron's individual performance as Maleficent's daughter, Mal is somewhat captivating, but everyone else seems to be struggling to click with their characters.

I could go on about the predictability of the plot, the awkwardness of the dialogue, or the costumes which look like bad cosplay, but honestly, anyone who doesn't expect all that from a film like this is simply unobservant.

If High School Musical is your guilty pleasure, Descendants probably will be too even though it slips a little from the better aspects of its predecessors.

The movie has a nice story, nice plot .. unpredictable ending .. and yeah .. the singing thingy was a little unnecessary :P

[Aktham_Tashtush · 7/10 · 2 August 2015]

So a TV movie by Disney channel,, the idea is new and kinda genuine, at first you'd think the plot is rigid and predictable but it really do has some unpredictability in the final scenes. The script is fine,,the experience of the writers has actually Flourished in this type of mini-series/TV movies which gave them an advantage.

There is only this thing i kinda hated or more like "disliked" about the movie which is the singing and dancing thingy !! well it's a bit shaggy and disorient the viewer even if it was a 9 year old kid sitting a 24/7 on Disney.. Thank god for the fast-forward bless ;) but to be fair,, other than the singing part,, the movie could have actually made a big fuss if it opened on the big screen ..

As for the cast ,, they were mostly fine .. for a Disney channel cast they looked like a stars there.

So overall,, the movie is nice .. watchable in a family night .. if you have an FF button on your remote you'll use it 3 times i think during the songs , well unless you have little kids then you're screwed :D but seriously thou ,, it is cool.

The next generation!

[Reno-Rangan · 6/10 · 14 February 2017]

This is a great concept, I don't know why Disney did not turn it into a theatrical film. As per the television standards, this film succeeds from all the aspects. The casting was good, but the focus was not distributed equally. May be they kept it for the sequels, in each to tell everyone's tale as the centre. So this is about the descendants of the greatest villains of Disney's fairy tales. They all got admitted to the Auradon Prep located near to their banished land. A chance to follow their own path, particularly to cut off bad influences of their parents. But would they accept the offer and make it work or there any agenda to avenge for the past are the remaining parts.

It's a musical like any fairytale. But average tracks. The performances were good, even the graphics are very acceptable. So colourful and visually appealing. I think this kind of trend began with the recent success of 'Maleficent'. So you must not expect the moral values, particularly I'm saying it for the parents. Because, this is about the villains and their children, so the majority of the film leans on the negative factors. But as usual, all ends well, if you consider that a message or learning point for your children.

Directed by 'Hocus Pocus' filmmaker. I was looking forward to watch it since it came out. Finally, I saw it and enjoyed it, but not the great film. The children's would love it, especially those who are familiar with the characters and its origin. Surely lot to expect, but I advise to keep your expectation low to benefit maximum. I have heard, they are already making the second film, which is due later this year. So I hope this time I watch it on the time.

6/10

Wonderful Movie!

[mg_parent · 10/10 · 15 August 2015]

I thought this was a great movie for children and adults who grew up with the original to show the new generation of our kids a new generation of the villains and princes and princesses.

My 4 year old daughter loves it so much she watches it on repeat and I find myself watching it with her each time.

The actor chosen for everyone was GREAT. And I can't wait for the next one. (book or movie) but I would defiantly read the book before watching the movie.

book is great too :)

enjoy

Evilicious Fun For the Whole Family!

[kz917-1 · 7/10 · 3 November 2017]

The offspring of some of the most notorious villains are given a second chance and attend high school off the isle of the lost where their parents were banished to.

Are the kids ROTTEN TO THE CORE? As the opening song suggests or is their still goodness in their hearts?

Cute albeit campy songs..but enjoyable overall.

Much cheese coming from the House of the Mouse!

Worth a look!

Fantastic Movie and Great idea!!!!!!!!!

[cuzzinman · 10/10 · 5 August 2019]

This is a great plot and idea connecting all of the Disney movies and can be watched by all. References to the movies and characters are well done. The dancing and music were great! Great messages for redemption, morality, kindness, unification, honesty, etc. throughout the plot and the franchise. Cast was great and well chosen! References to real world issues in this film and across the franchise allow for critical thinking. Fantastic movie!!!!!!!!!!!

The Children of Tomorrow!

[IrishPal2002 · 2 July 2016]

One of Disney's best plot ideas in a century. The Movie had a great plot to work with, and it managed it well.

Watching the teenage versions of Disney's most famous Heroes and Villains interact is both Interesting for younger generations and nostalgic for for people who grew up watching the parents of these children.

If you can look past some minor plot holes,(such as how most villain children only have 1 parent) the story is quite satisfying.

The music elements flow seamlessly thanks to High School Musical Director "Kenny Ortega". The Vocals are outstanding particularly by leads "Dove Cameron"(Mal), "Sofia Carson"(Evie) and Mitchell Hope(Prince Ben).

Overall the movie falls short in very few areas, with some cheesy songs pulling it down a little along with a predictable ending, but the movie is an instant classic among current Disney fans and a must see for all, old and new.

For Imbeciles

[k-58612 · 28 April 2022]

The trilogy of these films are only suitable for imbeciles, the acting is dreadful and as for the writing, a Lobotomised monkey would have written better.

Avoid these at all costs, shame on the Canadians that inflicted this drivel on the world, I thought they were nice people!

Villain kids

[MB-reviewer185 · 6/10 · 30 March 2021]

Yes, it's a disney channel movie but it has good actors like dove cameron and there are good songs but not enough of them because they are spaced out.

Some likable characters but Some are annoying, but go check it out when you have time.

Really well executed

[flickermood · 7/10 · 31 March 2021]

This movie is amazing, to the set design to the costumes it is really well executed The song choices were sometimes a bit odd but it doesnt change the fact that this movie is good.

It's Good

[bpassmore-61321 · 6/10 · 12 June 2021]

It has a good beginning, but it starts to get a little bad and cursed toward the end.

Not rotten, but more cheesy than it is nostalgic

[TheLittleSongbird · 5/10 · 24 November 2017]

Love Disney and loved the concept. Plus not all the Disney Channel films are bad, few if any are "great" but some are watchable, and Kristin Chenoweth is always worth watching.

'Descendants' is a relative waste of pretty good potential. Some good things save it from being worse, but it is sad to see one of the better concepts of any Disney Channel film done not enough with. Here's the good things first of all. Chenoweth is the best thing about it, she is gloriously evil as Maleficent and she once again how enviously amazing a singer and song interpreter she is (one will not believe how such a big voice with a wide range of tone colour could come out of a 4 foot 11 petite woman like Chenoweth), regardless of how she's recorded and what song is thrown at her.

Fortunately, her musical number "Evil Like Me" is one of the film's better and catchier numbers and Chenoweth sings the heck out of it. A couple of the other songs are surprisingly tuneful too, "If Only" and "Believe" especially and the rendition of "Be Our Guest", while not in the same league as the original, is fun. There are some nice vibrant and suitably Gothic colours and sets as well as some nice energy and playful references to the likes of 'Hocus Pocus'.

Not all the songs work though. Some are not that memorable and have some cheesy lyrics and either over-kinetic or limp choreography while others like "Rotten to the Core" have a major cringe factor all round. The cast all do their best but are undone by most of the characters being blandly one-dimensional, with most of the villains being under-explored and the heroes not being given enough likable traits to be rootable. The only really interesting characters are Maleficent and the Fairy Godmother, while doormat-written-all-over-her-forehead Belle is especially wronged.

Too much of the dialogue is an excess of cornball cheese, while the story generally lacks imagination and under-cooks too many of some good ideas and replaces them with too much intelligence-insulting absurdity. The costumes look amateurish and bargain-bin-special quality and the lip synching is sloppy. The photography is slick generally but there are drab moments too.

Overall, watchable rather than rotten but has too much cheese and blandness and not enough nostalgia and imagination. 5/10 Bethany Cox

Villainous Legacy

[hellraiser7 · 8/10 · 4 August 2015]

This film is one of those rare exceptions I make because of one thing it was actually good. To me it was one of those rare examples of a Disney TV movies and TV movies in general actually being good when actual thought and effort is applied.

I really like the concept, in a way it's kinda like with the Marvel graphic comic series "Runaways" only instead of the children of comic book villains and supervillians, here it's kids of fairy tale villains.

The production value is on par, for a limited budget they did well. Really like the look of both the enchanted land where the good Fairy Tale characters live. I like how despite magic the land also has technology that exists, and one other unique aspect I like is their version of "Lacrose" which is also a slight combo of the game Assault from the TV show "American Gladiators" as the centerline there are tennis balls being shot at the players.

And of course the island which is literally a prison island like in the movie "Escape from New York" as we see it's a bit of a slum and run down from the fact magic doesn't work within the boundary line and the fact most who occupy it aren't good company.

Though for me the song and dance numbers are the weak point of the film. The songs, their fun and good but just aren't really that memorable, to me anyway. Personally I would of been fine even if this film had no songs at all and I think that was at first the original intention. But this is just a minor quib and there really aren't that many song and dance numbers which is a relief.

But of course were here for the Descendant characters, the ensemble that play there were actually pretty solid, each of them had fun in their roles. All of the characters were unique in persona's and had specialties. In a way the film is also almost a heist film since their objective is to steal the Blue Fairy's wand which is the maguffin of the film. I really liked how it had that suspense where you felt these characters could go either way as each of them are going though the motions of adjusting to a life they never had.

My favorite character is of course Mal played by Dove Cameron whom was surprisingly good because she had more range to work with. I like the costume and look to her, where it's sort of a mix of both rebel and goth. I really like how she has a leadership quality to her, rebellious, mischievous, even has a sort of dry sarcasm and charisma.

Each of the Decendants really by their nature aren't bad or not as bad as they think, their heads are just in the wrong place no thanks to the bad lessons their parents taught them. You actually do feel and kinda care about them, one moment I found sad was when their asked if their parents ever made them cookies it really told you a lot showing how little love each of these kids got, and that the villains despite being good villains their lousy parents, the Decendants to them are nothing but tools, means to their ends, which really sucks that isn't right.

There are even little moments I liked where we see that some of the Decendants of the good fairy tale characters really aren't so good. From Audrey (Aurara's Decendent) whom is self absorbed and Chad (Cinderella's Descendant) is dishonest, a hypocrite, and kinda a brown noser. Those details I felt show just because kids were born from the right side of the tracks doesn't always mean their turn out good.

And of course we see each of the Decendants start to actually make or even have something in their lives, from Mal opening up and having feelings for Ben (Bele and the Beast's descendant), Carlos getting over his misplaced fear of dogs, and others which shows they really can have the good life and all the more makes you hope their make the right choice.

The film has a good message which is to simply be your own person, don't let labels, class, or even background define you. Only you have the power to decide who and what you want to be.

Overall it's a solid film, it's not exactly a fantasy classic in my book anyway but it's still fun to watch, if your a fan of the Disney fantasy films or just the fantasy genre, like the Descendants themselves it's worth giving a chance.

Rating: 3 stars

Honestly, Not As Bad As You Would Think

[thacaitlinstrangerthings · 7/10 · 9 April 2023]

Descendants is definitely not a movie for those of you who are only interested in purely "adult" movies (obviously, it's a PG-Rated Disney Channel Original movie). But, I think it deserves more recognition and appreciation than it has received.

First of all, the costumes. Lets be honest, they look pretty cheap, but they do reflect the characters' personalities and parents (original Disney villains) telling a story at first glance. The concepts were beautiful, but they either didn't have the budget, talent, or time to execute.

Second of all, the actors. Surprisingly, most (if not all) of the actors portrayed their characters well, providing more depth for them than originally written. More likely than not, any animosity that you felt towards the characters (I know I did) was probably caused by some of the god-awful jokes or "slang". Or it was the choreography and the songs. The point is, the actors did a pretty good job for being lower-level lower-paid actors.

Third, the songs and choreography. Let me just go right out of the gate and say that I absolutely hated the choreography in this movie. Especially in the opening musical number, "Rotten to the Core", where dancers looked more like they were having a stroke than doing a well thought out dance number that was genuinely worked on. The songs on the other hand, pretty catchy. Weeks after watching this movie I probably still had "Ridiculous" stuck in my head. But the rap rendition of "Be Our Guest" killed me.

All in all, the cheesy, heartfelt, family movie was quite charming, and at times nostalgic. I think I enjoyed this movie more than the typical person, because I am a 2000's baby, and this movie really took me back. Descendants includes good lessons for kids, I suppose. It teaches about giving people second chances and how you should be authentically yourself. An easy movie to watch, filled with cheesy charm, and can take you back to simpler times.

HOW

[torqueblade · 1/10 · 11 October 2021]

I know it's a Disney movie, but honestly how are you gonna have a movie with the kids of villains? Gaston fell, Ursula was impaled, and captain hook was eaten by a croc and you're telling me they all had kids? Really? We watched them all die in their movies. Just no.

Disney Magic At Its Finest!!!

[magee-42745 · 10/10 · 17 February 2018]

This movie is so good! The songs are so great! The story is great! I've rewatched this movie several times and loved it every time. Yes, sometimes the lines are cheesy but that is all part of the musical experience. Watch with your family or all by yourself ...either way it will bring a smile to your face.