I was more than happy to wait until Christmas even to watch Encanto on Disney Plus when it was released there. However, my wife really wanted to see it, so we went to our local theatre and I am glad we did. Disney has just been killing it with their releases lately and this is another amazing movie. It is worth noting that while it is currently at theatres, Disney Plus is getting this early on Christmas Eve.
How to Stream or Download Encanto
The film should be available for download and streaming on Disney+ around Christmas 2021. Click on the Download button at the end of this review.
Encanto Review
From the very start, I was mesmerized by this movie! Encanto is a story about magic, but not in a fantasy way like Onward, but in a more “realistic” way. The main character in the movie is a teenager, Mirabel and she comes from a very special family. All of the people in her family on their fifth birthday gain super/magic powers!
The powers, that the family has, are based around their personalities which are fun and showcased incredibly well. No one seems to know why Mirabel has not developed magic powers. She is not the only one to have a different relationship with magic. Mirabel’s uncle, Bruno could see the future and this along with his attitude caused him to be an outcast.
On her cousin’s birthday where he gets his powers, Mirabel notices that the house is starting to fall apart. Mirabel is worried about this, but the rest of the family blows her off, so she enlists the help of her outcast uncle to try and save the day. Oh, and she has to do it all without magic and learning to believe in herself.
In many ways, Encanto is as typical a Disney story as you can get. Family, believing in yourself, and so on are all here. The thing is, while on paper, you may think you have seen all this before, Encanto tells this story beautifully. The voice acting in this movie is great with Stephanie Beatriz as Mirabel and John Leguizamo as Bruno being the standouts.
It features amazing music that features songs in both English and Spanish. The main cast each gets their chance to shine with song and it is pretty awesome. I knew that the chances of this being great were very high as the movie was directed by Jared Bush and Byron Howard who did the fantastic Zootopia which is a firm favorite of mine.
When you watch Encanto it is one of those movies that you cannot take your eyes off. It lasts a bit over 90 minutes, but it is so engrossing it just zooms past. We have all seen movies that are about magic. However, this one manages to make it be magical, somewhat grounded in reality, but still makes you amazed and believe in magic at the same time.
There have been some great family movies released in 2021 and Encanto would be close to the top of the list for me. The amount of color and spectacle here is outstanding! It is one of the best-looking Disney movies I have ever seen. I am glad I got to see all the big and bright colors on the big screen. However, no matter how you watch this, you are in for a great time.
