Descendants: The Rise of Red

It has been five years since “Descendants 3” and now the famous Disney Channel franchise is back with a new story and a new cast of characters in “Descendants: The Rise of Red,” released in 2024. Oddly enough, this is both a spin-off and a prequel mixed. The focus is on new characters Red (Kylie Cantrall), the daughter of “Alice in Wonderland’s” Queen of Hearts, and Chloe (Malia Baker), the daughter of Cinderella and Prince Charming. When the Queen of Hearts, played by singer Rita Ora, uses an invite to Auradon Prep for revenge, Red and Chloe time travel to the past to undo events that led her down her evil path.

“Descendants: The Rise of Red” had so much potential. You’ve got an incredible cast of characters. Cantrall and Baker have a great camaraderie as Red and Chloe. Kristen Maldonado credited in her review, “I was really impressed by Ora’s acting ability as the Queen of Hearts. This was a perfect role for her.” Brandy and Paolo Montalban even reprise their roles as Cinderella and Prince Charming from the 1997 “Cinderella” film, which is just everything. Dara Reneé was a real stand out in her first villainous role as Uliana, the baby sister of Ursula and aunt to Uma.

Maldonado admitted, “I really loved the music and how they infused a lot of hip hop and R&B into it. Some highlights were “Perfect Revenge,” “Red,” “What’s My Name (Red’s Version),” and “Shuffle of Love,” which I wish we got a full version of in the film. Although I will say there were a couple of spoken rap style lines that were a bit cringey.”

There is even a lot of nice attention to detail in the costumes when they time travel, like the heart on Red’s belt changing color when she goes back in time. Maldonado said, “But, outside of that, I wish the story was more layered. They had so much to work with, but went with a really rushed and simplistic plot.” The catalyst for a young Queen of Hearts, Bridget, played by Ruby Rose Turner, to becoming evil could’ve been much stronger. The way they set it up looked superficial. Having Uliana trick Ella, played by Morgan Dudley, into sharing in the Bridget prank would’ve added a shade that could’ve taken the story to the next level and would’ve explained why the Queen of Hearts hates her as an adult. Or, when we see Chloe getting Ella grounded, that could’ve been a substance for her missing Castlecoming which leads Bridget to feeling betrayed by her. That could lead to her losing her best friend and missing out on getting together with Prince Charming, which would lead to Chloe dealing with a “Back to the Future” situation in a sequel trying to save her family.

The major missed opportunity was just not showing Red and Chloe at Castlecoming trying to stop the prank. The dance was a huge plot line in the movie but was never shown. The lack of certain locations like that and the way the sets were built out made the story feel very contained and limited at times and the overused CGI that it started to feel cheesy. Maybe they will bring that up in the possible fifth film, but it makes this film feel incomplete. They needed to do a better job with the set up. There were also some plot holes that didn’t make sense. Maldonado asked, “Like if Merlin enchanted the magic cookbook so it wouldn’t fall into the wrong hands, wouldn’t Uliana and her crew still have been frozen on their own mission to stake out the book whether Chloe and Red showed up or not?” That way, they never would’ve been able to prank Bridget, which means it might not have been them that was the reason for her to become evil.

On Uliana’s team, they introduced young versions of Maleficent and Hades and other villain kids, but didn’t actually do anything with them. Longtime fans wanted to see more, especially since they have such a strong connection with the original trilogy. Maldonado said, “Instead, they gave bigger cameos to Jasmine and Aladdin, or Jaladdin as they preferred, that were random and cringey.”

The film ends happily, but very suddenly, ever after. Headmaster Uma, played by China Anne McClain, teases that Red and Chloe messed with the time travel and that it could have caused issues. Maldonado admitted, “I wish they teased a stronger cliffhanger. Instead, the voiceover line felt like an after thought to tease a potential next movie without actually having a plan set.”

In the end, “Descendants: The Rise of Red” is a mixed bag. There were great messages about what it means to be a good person, mother-daughter relationships, childhood trauma, and being your own person. Maldonado said, “I really enjoyed this cast and the music, but there were a lot of missed opportunities and holes in the story that tied back to the writing team. They played it too safe and simplistic when their audience is smart enough to keep up with a more detailed story. This is a franchise that is timeless and could go on forever with all the different characters in the Disney fairytale universe. I’d like to see more in this world, but with a stronger script.”

I will admit that I liked this film with the time travel aspect with changing a person from being evil to good, but I will say that I don’t know why they decided to make another “Descendants” film when the last one ended it off nicely. Maybe with how popular the franchise was, they wanted to make another one to milk in on the franchise, and that is a bad idea. Because this film, like I mentioned before, is a mixed bag. There are many good things about it, but it does make you wonder why they made another film. Check it out on Disney+ and see for yourself what you think of it.

Tomorrow I will look at a sequel to, quite possibly, my most hated live-action remake in “Disney Month 2025.”