I've been a MASSIVE Miraculous fan for so many years now. I remember being a middle schooler first getting into the series and have been waiting for this movie for so long.
Well, now I'm a college student and I can honestly say while the visuals were spectacular and the story was better put together (better than the show by a LONG SHOT) I feel disappointed but not surprised to say I felt underwhelmed by this film.
I was surprised it was a musical at first, and I didn't mind it at all. I was actually pleasantly surprised and I was excited to see what the voice actors were going to show with their singing capabilities--only to feel each song dragging on and sounding the same every time. The only exception was Hawkmoth's song which felt reminiscent to Scar from the Lion King. But every other song felt so mediocre, and it especially didn't help much when the original English voices were swapped out for other singers. But while I understand that for Cat Noir, Ladybug can ABSOLUTELY sing great and it always caught me off guard whenever she wasn't the one singing. It felt like listening to a whole other character.
As for the story, compared to the show it had a lot more time put into it. But the problems that I face are the multiple changes to how the Miraculous work. I didn't mind the few changes at first, until all of a sudden Tikki didn't need Marinette to say "Spots On!" to become Ladybug, her yoyo suddenly had a mind of its own, Cat Noir's cataclysm doesn't disintegrate things, Akumatized victims don't need their akuma captured, Cat Noir's mask can break off--I can go on and on. It was really frustrating to me as I noticed every inconsistent thing, it felt like the script had a mind of its own of how the powers worked, and it felt like it kept changing to be what the plot needed it to do.
What did they do to Cat Noir? He doesn't feel the same as the one in the original show, and he feels a lot more snarky and headstrong in this. That's typically how Ladybug is during fights, so it felt like their roles were reversed suddenly. It felt like the story wanted to focus so much on Marinette's story, but failed to think about Adrien's perspective as well. Why did HE get a Miraculous? Why does he want to be a superhero? I know the reason but this film never tells us why! And with his father's redemption? His reaction? It didn't feel like something he would do to forgive him so easily. There was WAY too much underdeveloped stuff that we could have gotten with Adrien and his father but we didn't.
Which brings me to the rest of the plot. I found the akumatized victims underwhelming, though I did really like the action scenes. Though I understand it's difficult to put hundreds of episodes of a show squished together into a film, scenes felt slow yet things felt SUPER fast paced and rushed. Things needed to be developed more and even as a long time Miraculous fan I had a difficult time wrapping things together. It felt like everything was happening at once and nothing was happening at the same time.
I know this review comes off as extremely negative, but the truth is I feel like this can be an enjoyable viewing when you turn your brain off. But with Miraculous, the story WANTS you to pay attention to the story and the characters so that you don't miss a thing. And it's really frustrating, and I had such high hopes for what I thought this movie was going to be. I thought I would be over the moon with the Miraculous movie, especially after all these years of development hell. But I sadly feel like it disappointed me more than it impressed me. I truly loved seeing some of the original Miraculous show come to life here, but overall, this story can't seem to find a footing for itself and it breaks my heart to see it like this.
Overall, if you are a big Miraculous fan I would recommend seeing it! But don't pay too much attention to the story, it's not even canon anyway. A disappointing, yet visually stunning result.
Well, now I'm a college student and I can honestly say while the visuals were spectacular and the story was better put together (better than the show by a LONG SHOT) I feel disappointed but not surprised to say I felt underwhelmed by this film.
I was surprised it was a musical at first, and I didn't mind it at all. I was actually pleasantly surprised and I was excited to see what the voice actors were going to show with their singing capabilities--only to feel each song dragging on and sounding the same every time. The only exception was Hawkmoth's song which felt reminiscent to Scar from the Lion King. But every other song felt so mediocre, and it especially didn't help much when the original English voices were swapped out for other singers. But while I understand that for Cat Noir, Ladybug can ABSOLUTELY sing great and it always caught me off guard whenever she wasn't the one singing. It felt like listening to a whole other character.
As for the story, compared to the show it had a lot more time put into it. But the problems that I face are the multiple changes to how the Miraculous work. I didn't mind the few changes at first, until all of a sudden Tikki didn't need Marinette to say "Spots On!" to become Ladybug, her yoyo suddenly had a mind of its own, Cat Noir's cataclysm doesn't disintegrate things, Akumatized victims don't need their akuma captured, Cat Noir's mask can break off--I can go on and on. It was really frustrating to me as I noticed every inconsistent thing, it felt like the script had a mind of its own of how the powers worked, and it felt like it kept changing to be what the plot needed it to do.
What did they do to Cat Noir? He doesn't feel the same as the one in the original show, and he feels a lot more snarky and headstrong in this. That's typically how Ladybug is during fights, so it felt like their roles were reversed suddenly. It felt like the story wanted to focus so much on Marinette's story, but failed to think about Adrien's perspective as well. Why did HE get a Miraculous? Why does he want to be a superhero? I know the reason but this film never tells us why! And with his father's redemption? His reaction? It didn't feel like something he would do to forgive him so easily. There was WAY too much underdeveloped stuff that we could have gotten with Adrien and his father but we didn't.
Which brings me to the rest of the plot. I found the akumatized victims underwhelming, though I did really like the action scenes. Though I understand it's difficult to put hundreds of episodes of a show squished together into a film, scenes felt slow yet things felt SUPER fast paced and rushed. Things needed to be developed more and even as a long time Miraculous fan I had a difficult time wrapping things together. It felt like everything was happening at once and nothing was happening at the same time.
I know this review comes off as extremely negative, but the truth is I feel like this can be an enjoyable viewing when you turn your brain off. But with Miraculous, the story WANTS you to pay attention to the story and the characters so that you don't miss a thing. And it's really frustrating, and I had such high hopes for what I thought this movie was going to be. I thought I would be over the moon with the Miraculous movie, especially after all these years of development hell. But I sadly feel like it disappointed me more than it impressed me. I truly loved seeing some of the original Miraculous show come to life here, but overall, this story can't seem to find a footing for itself and it breaks my heart to see it like this.
Overall, if you are a big Miraculous fan I would recommend seeing it! But don't pay too much attention to the story, it's not even canon anyway. A disappointing, yet visually stunning result.