Descendants 2: Warning May Contain Spoilers***

Descendants 2 was an excellent stand alone movie for all ages who want lighthearted family fun. Some may even consider it better than the first movie. I guess this would make sense as there are two books written leading up to the second movie (“Return to the Isle of the Lost” and “Rise of the Isle of the Lost”), along with the Wicked World cartoon shorts.

In the movie, it is clear that one of the main themes is identity. This becomes evident when the viewer sees Mal struggle with her elevated status as the King Ben’s girlfriend (the future Lady Mal). She puts on a brave face by using her spell book to make her hair blonde, and appears both awkward and uncomfortable maintaining a princess-like mindset. She has a hard time keeping up appearances and is somewhat shocked by what she has become.

Mal addresses these concerns with Evie, Carlos and Jay who are content with their new lives in Auradon and have no desire to return to the Isle of the Lost. Evie want’s Mal to be herself and not depend heavily on magic, she goes so far as to tell Mal that the spell book should be in the museum along with her magic mirror.

King Ben discovers Mal’s reliance on magic, since she used it to make his surprise lunch and she is forced to come clean about her insecurities, causing an argument that eventually leads Mal to question her position in life. This struggle is shown when she goes back to the Isle and throughout most of the movie.

It is clearly evident that Evie loves her life in Auradon and is planning a future there. She is happy with her fashion design business and Doug (though this is evident in the movie, it is made more clear if you read “Rise of the Isle of the Lost” first) – to me Evie has grown a lot from the Evil Queen’s daughter being concerned with marrying a prince, which is what her mother wanted for her. Evie is also shown to be the most successful financially as her business is growing due to the high demand for Cotillion formal ware. She would rather work than try to marry into a higher class – this in contrast to Evie being more interested in Prince Chad at some point in Descendants (first movie) which is what Evil Queen would have wanted for her. In this regard, Evie doesn’t have to question her identity any more since she knows who she is.

The viewer can see a lot of growth in Jay as well as he has come to the conclusion that he does not have to go around breaking rules and stealing stuff. Disney is very clever when using word play as Jay wants Lonnie to be part of the R.O.A.R team but she is unable to because of Auradon’s rules -“A team is comprised of a captain and eight men”. In order to help Lonnie in a selfless act, he relinquishes his position as captain and gives the position to Lonnie. I am impressed with this as far as Disney goes because they like to paint everything as ultimately good or evil and this play on the rules actually illustrates that there are gray areas as well.

There is a great deal of growth and development for Carlos as well. In my opinion Carlos had been the most developed villain kid (that is if you read the books and watch the movies in order) which is why, I think that it should have been created as a series – though the blended entertainment works too. Carlos started of being timid and lacked confidence, probably due to Cruella’s treatment. From his help in searching for the Dragon’s Eye Scepter to standing up to his mother, he becomes more and more confident as the series goes on. Despite his growth in confidence, we see is internal struggles when building up the strength to ask Jane out – it is evident that he has some doubt built up (am I good enough for her? Will I be rejected? etc). This is actually another universal theme laid out in Disney fashion – boy likes girl, boy builds up confidence to ask girl out, boy gets yes – everything works out in Disney movies. I kind of wish that it weren’t always the case as it gives some people false hope and high expectations, but in this movie it works.

Another theme that shows up in the movie is the theme of opposing cultures. Ben and company feel that they must bring Mal back from the Isle because she is no longer seen as a villain kid (VK), and as a result must be brought home. Opposing cultures is an evident them as the movie takes place in both Auradon – where the sky is always blue and of course the Isle, where it is dark and dreary. Life is different on the Isle and this is creatively shown in the song “Chillin’ Like a Villain” when King Ben is dressed in his Isle garb to look more like the locals rather than in his formal ware of Auradon. I thought the use of “Chillin’ Like a Villain” was a creative and fun way of illustrating that you need to respect different cultures and norms rather than always falling back on your own.

The book “Rise of Isle of the Lost” was also a great lead in as it did a very good job of introducing the reader to other Isle locals such as Uma. Del la Cruz developed Uma’s character well and the movie further explains her internal hatred for Mal and her desire to be better. Uma is considered to be the new leader of the Isle since Mal left to live in Auradon. The movie does well to expand on Uma’s character as laid out in the book – such as rage, jealousy, and her narcissistic tendencies. Her narcissistic tendencies are on full display when she sings her famous song “What’s My Name” – this song highlights the importance she places upon herself above other people. For example when Harry says something along the lines of “she’s the captain and I’m the first mate” – it is evident that he knows his place.

Uma also has conflicts – the movie does a good job of creating her hatred for Mal but in a way makes the audience sympathize with her when she is trying to do what is best for the Isle. One of her pet peeves and sources of resentment is that she was not invited to Auradon when Mal, Evie, Carlos, and Jay were. Due to her competitive nature and her history with Mal – this adds to the conflict. The larger question is – is Uma truly evil or is she only concerned about her people.

Harry as a villain, is exactly what one would expect from Del la Cruz’s description – the movie did a really good job portraying him from his crazy, unpredictable behavior to his bullying. As well he is also shown to be obsessed with his hook – even though it’s an extension of his body – he did not come across it naturally. His craziness is evident when he threatens Mal or wants to deal with King Ben.

I must say that one of the characters that was kind of lacking in the movie was Gil. He did not have a big part, only a few lines, and it seems that he was just added for comedic value. Gil does not seem like a villain as it seems that he is a little friendly. The disappointment with Gil is not a result of bad acting by Dylan Playfair – the character should have more of a role. It was hilarious when he made reference to “shrimpy”. Gil looks evil, but is he really? In all fairness though, not everything would fit into the movie and squeezing everything in would make it long and drawn out – much like the movie Titanic.

I think that Descendants 2 left off at the perfect place to keep the suspense going with Uma saying “you didn’t think this was the end of the story, did you?”

In all, I think that Descendants 2 was better than the first movie as there was more history and a much larger story line created before it was shown. It is evident that if you read “Rise of Isle of the Lost” before watching Descendants 2 you would see how it served as the perfect prequel to it. I feel that Del la Cruz tied the book and movie together perfectly and that nothing was out of place or added in just because – aside from Dude talking.

In my next post, I will talk about “Escape from the Isle of the Lost” and how it fits in with the overall Descendants universe.

5/5