Featured Graphic by Destiny Mizell
Story by Larry Rincon
While the biggest movie event of the year took place last week, this week one of the most highly anticipated movies was finally released. For the past eight years, superheroes have fought to protect Paris from evil. After years of teasing and concept art, the “Ladybug and Cat Noir: The Movie” made its debut on Netflix this week.
For those unfamiliar, ZAG Animation has been working on a French children’s animated television series called “Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug and Cat Noir.” The series follows two heroes, Ladybug and Cat Noir, as they fight against the villain, Hawkmoth. In their normal lives, Ladybug is Marinette Dupain-Cheng, a girl who likes fashion. Cat Noir is Adrian Agreste, the boy Marinette has a crush on. In all honesty, there is not much of a difference between the film and the series. The film, much like the series, follows the two characters as they navigate their hero identities while also somewhat exploring the world’s most frustrating love square.
Of course, what takes five seasons in the show occurs in the span of an hour and a half in the film. Due to the nature of movies, not a lot of show knowledge gets translated. This is not necessarily a bad thing, but it makes the film feel very fast-paced even though not much actually happens. As a result, the film’s story is not very impressive. Dupain-Cheng and Agreste meet in school and she falls for him. They each acquire a “miraculous” — a magical item of jewelry — and use them to transform into their superhero personas. Then, Cat Noir falls for Ladybug. Hawkmoth becomes full of negative emotions resulting in him almost achieving his goal. He fails because the power of love is stronger than death. Then the movie ends with the two heroes discovering the other’s secret identity and kissing.
I want to be clear that this is a kids’ movie first and foremost. While most of the original viewers have reached their teenage to young adult years, the target audience is still young kids. However, I do not understand why that means that this film had to become a musical. There is nothing wrong with adding songs. In fact as someone who enjoys musicals, this movie had a lot of promise and potential.
The only thing that irked me with this movie is that when Dupain-Cheng sings, her voice changes and it does not match her personality anymore. Now the problem isn’t the different actors singing, it’s simply the fact that the singer for Agreste managed to sound like the original voice actor. Dupain-Cheng’s singer decided to age her by roughly five years. The lack of consistency with her voice ruined this movie.
Not only that, but Hawk Moth’s song also reminded me of Disney’s “The Princess and the Frog.” Inspiration is always welcomed, but the way “Miraculous” handled Hawk Moth’s mannerisms reminded me too much of the Shadow Man and his musical number.
With all this being said, I will give credit where credit is deserved. The animation for the film was a hundred times better than the cartoon. The hair looked like silk, and the sparkles and magic looked the way I imagine magic to look. The details of the characters and their appearances were also amazing. The final outfit Dupain-Cheng wears is so stunning, from the transparent fabric of the wings to the texture and flow of the dress.
I do still find it quite sad that the film was underwhelming. I have been following the creator, Jeremy Zag, for years, and I know that this movie was meant to show “Miraculous Ladybug” the way he always envisioned it. I honestly would not recommend the movie unless you are a die-hard fan of the show. If you want something in the background playing, this is that kind of film. It is short and sweet, but it is very much cringy and boring. If you’ve been watching the show for the past eight years, you might as well watch the film. If you’ve never heard of “Miraculous Ladybug” it won’t hurt you to pretend you never heard anything about it.
To contact Lifestyles Editor Destiny Mizell, email [email protected]. For more news, visit www.mtsusidelines.com, or follow us on Facebook at MTSU Sidelines or on Twitter at @MTSUSidelines.
