Descendants 2

This probably needs to have children under 12 to appreciate how huge of a business a Disney Channel movie like “Descendants 2,” released in 2017, is, which makes the confusing feeling of this sequel mystifying. Because despite the first movie showing some inspiration, the second feels completely cashing in, as if it could just go on by with the title alone.

Brian Lowry said in his review, “Perhaps it can, at least in terms of mollifying the target audience, which will be corralled via a six-network simulcast across Disney-owned channels, including ABC.” However, their parents will find this sequel musical uneasy to watch, as the complete generic listening to the songs hugely balances the energetic choreography.

Lowry noted, “The original came outfitted in a highly marketable premise, with the teenage sons and daughters of the Disney villains -- raised on an island separate from their heroic peers -- being mainstreamed into the high school attended by the progeny of heroes like the Beast, Mulan and the Seven Dwarfs.” On top of that, it tapped Kristen Chenoweth as the Sleeping Beauty’s enemy Maleficent, giving a Broadway performance to brighten up the film.

As an opposite, “Descendants 2” completely skips any adult supervision, depending on the teen stars to carry the movie. Lowry said, “And while they might have the talent for that, it then strands them within a tedious, drawn-out plot, after a jaunty opening number that isn't equaled for the next nearly two hours.”

Without overstressing the story, Maleficent’s daughter Mal (Dove Cameron) has gone legit but feels down and insecure as she prepares to attend the Royal Cotillion with the Beast and Belle’s energetic son, King Ben (Mitchell Hope). Her efforts to blend in finally break, sending her back to the Isle of the Lost, with her friends Evie (Sofia Carson), the Evil Queen’s daughter, Cruella De Vil’s son Carlos (Cameron Boyce), and Jafar’s son Jay (Booboo Stewart) following behind.

The cast introduces a new variety of teenage offspring of the villains, led by Uma, played by China Anne McClain, the daughter of the villain from “The Little Mermaid,” Ursula.

Lowry said, “Unfortunately, the inevitable feel-good message takes forever to roll around, while the movie -- directed by Kenny Ortega, a musical veteran whose credits include the first "Descendants" and "High School Musical" -- gets tied up in trite romantic subplots involving various characters.”

The music and scale apart, this doesn’t just act like any old episode of a Disney Channel live-action comedy, but an ordinary one overall.

Lowry mentioned, “Again, it would be easier to dismiss "Descendants" as kiddie fare if Disney didn't have so much wrapped around it, including the conspicuous tie-ins to its heralded animated predecessors.” Overall, getting access to Walt Disney’s vault is – or at least should be – too valuable to waste on the wrong kind of Mickey Mouse effort.

This movie is better than the first one, but not by much. I like how there aren’t any parents just sitting in the background and trying to influence the offspring in some way, giving the teenagers full freedom to do whatever they want, but still, it feels like a cash-in or copy of the “High School Musical” movies. If you liked the first one, see this, but if not, then stay far away from the series.

Tomorrow I will look at the live-action “Kim Possible” movie in the next review of “Disney Channel Original Movie Month.”