DVD Review: Disney's Descendants [Emz]

So I first watched this film last year. It originally aired in 2015 on Disney channel, but I don't have that station. 

The story is set 20 years after "Beauty & the Beast." All the villains are transported onto a non-magical island Known as the Isle Of The Lost and all the Kingdoms came together under Belle and The Beast to create the United states of Auradon.

We pick up with the children of both the "heroes" and "villians." 

Here is the Synopsis:

Ben, the teenaged son of King Beast and Queen Belle, invites the exiled children of defeated villains to attend a prep school with the heroes' children.

Review:

So this film keeps the theme of most Disney films.. it's musical!

So the film opens with Narration from one of the Villain kids and then we meet Prince Ben, Son of Belle and The Beast, he is soon to become King and has chosen his first proclamation. For Kids from the Isle of The Lost to be given a chance to live in Auradon. 

The kids he picked are Mal, daughter of Maleficent (Dove Cameron), Evie, daughter of the Evil Queen (Sofia Carson), Carlos, son of Cruella DeVil (Cameron Boyce) and Jay, son of Jafar (Booboo Stewart).

All these characters are trying to carry on their parents legacy. Where Maleficent (Kristen Chenoweth) is the leader on the Isle, Mal is the leader of the Villain kids (VK's)

So once in Auradon, the kids try to steal Fairy godmothers magic wand, as per Maleficent request. This doesn't go to plan and the kids escape luckily before being caught.

I liked the way the kids tried to fit in even though they were having to do Maleficent bidding. 

Mal puts a love spell on Ben and he falls for her immediately, he invites her on a date and goes swimming in the Enchanted lake. Mal is torn between trying to have a normal life in Auradon or going back to the Isle after stealing the wand.

After parents day goes horribly wrong for Mal after being introduced to Aurora's mother by her granddaughter (she didn't know who she was originally) a majority of the kids of Auradon gang up on Mal and the other VK's and make them unwelcome.

On the way to Ben's coronation Mal give Ben a chocolate which contains the anti love spell. Ben eats it but admits to Mal that her spell washed off in the Enchanted Lake.

At Ben's Coronation, Fairy Godmother's daughter Jane, feeling insecure and out of place (also after being manipulated by Mal) grabs her mothers wand and unknowingly makes a hole in the barrier around the Isle. Maleficent escapes the Isle, and before she arrives in Auradon the VK's have decided that they do not want to be evil and choose good. 

Maleficent arrives and the VK's (mainly Mal) fight against her and she ends up turning into a tiny Lizard according to Fairy godmother the size of the love in her heart.

The films ends with the party after the coronation.

I enjoyed this film alot. I had wondered for a long time what would the kids of the Disney Prices and Princess be like and also what would the kids of the Villains be like. This fulfilled my imagination. I may be alot older than the fan base for this film but I enjoyed it all the same. It wasn't too cheesy and was very enjoyable.

Til next time

Emz x

Read more...

TV Review: The Magicians Season 1 Episode 1 "Unauthorized Magic" [Emz]

So I first attempted to watch this series a little while ago but never finished the first episode.

So this series is based around the books of the same name by Lev Grossman.

I have seen at least one familiar face in this episode and she is playing a main character. Her name is Stella Maeve and she used to star in Chicago P.D.as Nadia.

Here is the synopsis:

Best friends Quentin and Julia are recruited for an entrance exam to Brakebills University, a secret institution for magical pedagogy.

Review:

I quite liked this episode.. I'm not one for believing in magic or anything like that but the storyline interests me.

So we have two best friends Quentin and Julia. He never feels like he belongs and she seems to be good at everything. Quentin goes for what he thinks is an interview for Yale, which goes horribly wrong when the person they think is the interviewer is dead. 

Their trips home get suspended when they end up at Brakebills University and sit an exam. This exam they both later learn is a test to see if the have any magic ability. Quentin goes sailing through after being shocked into performng magic he didn't know he possessed. Julia on the other hand is sent home and has her memory wiped.. or so we think.

Things dont appear to be as they seam at the University as Quentin thinks he s dreaming a character for a kids book about magic he kept reading. This leads to him and some other students attempting to reach the other side and releasing The Beast.

Julia on the other hand remembers all about Brakebills University and end up joining a magic underworld, who will help her to learn how to use the magic he harnesses.

It was definitely an interesting first episode. Bring on the next one.

Till next time

Emz x

Read more...

DVD Reviews: The Librarians Season 1 Episode 2 "And The Sword In The Stone" [Emz]

So It's been a while since I posted any reviews on this show. This is the second half of episode 1 technically and episode 1 ended on a Cliffhanger.

Again as I stated last time, if you have not seen this show *spoilers* for the review itself.

Here is the synopsis:

The Serpent Brotherhood is trying to return magic to our world. Flynn, Colonel Baird, and the potential Librarians must stop them before it's too late

Review:

So following the last episode and Cassandra's betrayal, Flynn Carsen (The Librarian) and the rest of the team are cut off form the Library, with no way back. Flynn is mortally wounded, but they need to find some way of finding the Serpent Brotherhood. 

They eventually track them down to a Roman Crypt beneath Buckingham Palace.  The Brotherhood plan to release magic into the world and they manage to succeed before the team get the Crown and Excalibur back. 

Cassandra rejoins the team after helping them but is not completely trusted by all members as yet. She heals Flynn with what magic is left.

Flynn leaves the rest of the Team to battle what is out there now magic has been released back into the world, to go and search for the Library.

I enjoyed this second half of this story. As i previously stated it continued from the last episode. As I prevously forgot to mention in this post we meet Jenkins also who has an offshoot of the Library and is connected in someway. He appears to be a little OCD though and like everything just so and doesn't enjoy many people around, so it's a little hard for him to adjust to the team setting up their base of operations there. 

Each character has their own personality and it is quite funny to get to know them all. It is a little sad to see the Cassandra has accepted her fate that one day she will more than likely die of her brain tumor, but she is willing to help as much as she can.

Till next time

Emz x

Read more...

DVD review: Now You See Me [Emz]

So I have had this film on DVD for a while, but I love this film.

The way these magicians/ illusionists are rounded up y an unknown source and all the twists and turns that keep misleading you until the final reveal.

Here is the premise:

Charismatic magician Atlas (Jesse Eisenberg) leads a team of talented illusionists called the Four Horsemen. Atlas and his comrades mesmerize audiences with a pair of amazing magic shows that drain the bank accounts of the corrupt and funnel the money to audience members. A federal agent (Mark Ruffalo) and an Interpol detective (Mélanie Laurent) intend to rein in the Horsemen before their next caper, and they turn to Thaddeus (Morgan Freeman), a famous debunker, for help.

Review:

I loved this film and the cast. We had Isla Fisher, Jesse Eisenberg, Woody Harrelson, Mark Ruffalo, Michael Caine and Morgan Freeman.

So we have the four Horseman. All the twists and tricks they pull off, keeps leaving you guessing. Jsust when you think they have been caught, something happens and they slip away. 

From simple tricks and illusions, to robbing a bank, faking death and then the big reveal that someone isn't who you though they were was brilliant.

I would happily watch this film and it's sequel over and over again.

Till next time

Emz x

Read more...