User reviews

I won't be the first in saying this movie was a bit slanted toward the cheesy, campy side of Disney. But then again, what Disney Channel movie isn't? I would like to point out, however, that the leads (Mal and Ben) were relatively believable (and likable) characters. I'm not spoiling the movie when I say that Dove Cameron did well at portraying an independent young woman with conflictions about living up to her mother's expectations. On the good side, Mitchell Hope made me believe he was the son of a Disney prince and princess (now king and queen).

Granted, there were several times I wanted to stop watching this film due to the gross amount of cheese and horrible scripts, but I stayed each time for those moments of sincerity and sometimes cleverness. I will probably watch this movie again, and maybe again after that. (Guilty pleasures...) Oh, and P.S. Kristin Chenoweth is an amazing actress who was clearly having fun with her role. She might have come off as mostly cartoonish, but there were some moments where she brought the dread-factor in some subtle ways.

Hallmark movies: bad. Reimaginings of classic Disney properties: bad. Yet mixing those two wrongs together somehow makes a right. Descendants is better, smarter, more original, more entertaining, and thematically deeper than nearly every live-action Disney remake (still stan hard for Branagh's Cinderella).

My daughter has constantly got the Disney channel on at home, so I'm treated with re-runs of the same old thing, even the movies are constantly on and I can get very fed up with it. So this movie was advertised to the hilt since the premier of Teen Beach 2, which was not as good as the first I might add. So after months of the advertising of the Descendants, I was fearing the worst. As much as I can't stand Cameron Boyce, I do like Dove Cameron from Liv and Maddie, which is the only show I can bear on Disney Channel.

After watching this movie, I was quite surprised, also I quite enjoyed it, Dove was brilliant as the daughter of Malificent, and Evie, was quite funny too. OK, the 2 boy villains were OK too. But the idea and story were actually pretty good, and some of the characters were quite fun to watch.

Also the parents of the villains were fun to watch, some of the things they say are quite amusing.

As far as Disney straight to TV movies go, I'd give it a go, of course, after months of repeating the film, you'll get fed up with it.

Overall watchable once or maybe 2 days later, twice, then you'll have had enough.

After the promotion this Disney Original Movie got, I had to go on great lengths to watch it.

The movie reminded me a lot of the 90's Disney Originals and held a familiar sensation which I will attribute it to HalloweenTown. The notions were childish and simple but totally in tune with the Disney Originals tradition which can be seen when Magic and Fantasy is involved.

The movie from the perspective of an adult or an overly mature teen might miss the point. Yes, this movie is not great but it managed to convince us that the silliness of the Golden Age of Disney Animation was not forgotten. On the contrary somewhere the Disney villains settled down and had kids. As a 90's kid I have to admit that I feel somewhat satisfied.

The plot is simple and the musical parts were not half bad but will pass with difficulty in the D.O.M. Hall of Fame as High School musical and HalloweenTown did. I believe that Disney could pull off a great series with this material which would have been perhaps hilarious but as a movie it's something less than Cinderella 1997 of Rodgers and Hammerstein but more of the last attempts to follow the last decade's magic/ghost/zombie and vampire trade.

Therefore, if you think about watching it beware. It may seem great and nostalgic but absurd on several points. In my opinion the plot at some points had great thoughts, badly put together but that's just my opinion. Young children and teens will probably like it but their parents will be a tad disappointed. This is an attempt to lure the young generation back to Disney's animation and live action traditions but parents and young adults alike will be emotionally conflicted.

Definitely a cute little movie, and certainly worth a watch. The plot may be clichéd to a point, but the characters are pretty likable and the overall atmosphere is fun. Kristen Chenoweth is delightful as Maleficent, and even adds a couple of nods to Glinda, something which other Wicked fans are sure to pick up on. Unlike some family comedies, this one doesn't rely on crude humor to be funny and instead remains appropriate for all ages. Disney fans will enjoy the little tributes to some of the classics. I would definitely recommend this film to anyone looking for some light, musical entertainment. I'm looking forward to the sequel!

Wow, what a great movie!! So, High School Musical is my favorite Disney original musicals. But this is in 3rd place. The concept and story is so cool and I love the chemistry between all the actors. Dove Cameron is so great in this and you really believe in her character as Maleficent's daughter. The songs are great and they are so fun and they are so catchy! I love this movie and I am excited for the second one.

I wanna make it very clear that this is a Disney Channel original movie. It is not exactly held to the same level as other movies. I watched this film keeping in mind that it is made for TV and targeted towards children. I will say that I liked the casting, I thought the actors fit their individual roles. Also, the musical numbers and singing is very good mostly. There are a couple of the teenage actors that haven't quite gotten where they need to be as far as singing goes, but Kristen Chenoweth was of course incredible. How could you star in one of the biggest Broadway hits ever and not be superb at singing. So I really enjoyed her and most of the singing. I also liked the character Mal, and I liked Ben too, and their connection. They had great chemistry. The plot is very very predictable, you can for sure predict what is gonna happen next. Of course that is a thing with Disney Channel, so just know that. I think this film is pretty good for a child audience. 7/10 for Descendants.

My kids love these movies and they are definitely safe for kids viewing. I watched them once and now find any reason not to have to rewatch another minute ad my kids watch them over and over. The scripts are unbelievably cheesy, but the real offense is the music. The music is atrocious and cheesy. Lazy pop beats with whiny vocals. And the actors don't even pretend to try and do a good job syncing their lips to the music in the musical parts of the films. The other main issue I have is that every character in these movies is depicted as a selfish, entitled brat. Kids, adults, whatever - all spoiled brats. I don't really love my kids learning that sitting around on expensive furniture and whining about things is how life should be. Disney deathly could have done a better job of putting some actual admirable role models for kids in these movies.

What a unique story line and plot for a movie. The kids of villains interacting with the kids of the heroes? I love it! The songs are fun, the lyrics are good and I like that the singing isn't constant, it's just some times throughout the movie. The characters are perfect and it really draws you in. I am so excited that there is a part 2! Kids will love this movie without a doubt.

Don't be fooled by the premise; Descendants is not a nostalgic romp through classic Disney, nor is it a gritty reinterpretation of the source material a la last year's Maleficent. It has much more in common with High School Musical, Camp Rock, and Teen Beach Movie. These film franchises are so stylistically similar that they may as well be considered a single series with Descendants as the next in line (pun intended.) It is a series Disney is likely going to milk until it stops being profitable, so you might as well enjoy it until then. These films are shallow, cheesy, and unintelligent, but they're also so harmless and fun that there's no point in hating them. The target audience is clearly preteens, but there is plenty of enjoyment for adults and older teenagers due to three main factors:

1. The films don't take themselves too seriously.

2. The musical numbers are catchy and memorable.

3. The actors seem to be having fun which makes it easy for the viewer to have fun.

Here's how Descendants stacks up against its predecessors:

1. The moral of the film is "do what makes you happy and be with the people who make you happy even if it's not what others expect from you." It is no coincidence that High School Musical, Camp Rock, and Teen Beach Movie have that message in common. Descendants somehow manages to be even more rushed and less subtle in conveying it. While the film is lighthearted as a whole, it takes breaks to be serious and enforce its moral which detracts from the experience.

2. The very first song, "Rotten to the Core" is a blend of dubstep and poor attempts to be edgy. It is every bit as cringe-worthy as it sounds. The later songs are significantly better with "Did I Mention" as a highlight, but I'd still choose the Teen Beach Movie soundtrack over this one in a heartbeat.

3. To be blunt, there is no chemistry between the actors whatsoever. Dove Cameron's individual performance as Maleficent's daughter, Mal is somewhat captivating, but everyone else seems to be struggling to click with their characters.

I could go on about the predictability of the plot, the awkwardness of the dialogue, or the costumes which look like bad cosplay, but honestly, anyone who doesn't expect all that from a film like this is simply unobservant.

If High School Musical is your guilty pleasure, Descendants probably will be too even though it slips a little from the better aspects of its predecessors.

The trilogy of these films are only suitable for imbeciles, the acting is dreadful and as for the writing, a Lobotomised monkey would have written better.

Avoid these at all costs, shame on the Canadians that inflicted this drivel on the world, I thought they were nice people!

So a TV movie by Disney channel,, the idea is new and kinda genuine, at first you'd think the plot is rigid and predictable but it really do has some unpredictability in the final scenes. The script is fine,,the experience of the writers has actually Flourished in this type of mini-series/TV movies which gave them an advantage.

There is only this thing i kinda hated or more like "disliked" about the movie which is the singing and dancing thingy !! well it's a bit shaggy and disorient the viewer even if it was a 9 year old kid sitting a 24/7 on Disney.. Thank god for the fast-forward bless ;) but to be fair,, other than the singing part,, the movie could have actually made a big fuss if it opened on the big screen ..

As for the cast ,, they were mostly fine .. for a Disney channel cast they looked like a stars there.

So overall,, the movie is nice .. watchable in a family night .. if you have an FF button on your remote you'll use it 3 times i think during the songs , well unless you have little kids then you're screwed :D but seriously thou ,, it is cool.

This is a great concept, I don't know why Disney did not turn it into a theatrical film. As per the television standards, this film succeeds from all the aspects. The casting was good, but the focus was not distributed equally. May be they kept it for the sequels, in each to tell everyone's tale as the centre. So this is about the descendants of the greatest villains of Disney's fairy tales. They all got admitted to the Auradon Prep located near to their banished land. A chance to follow their own path, particularly to cut off bad influences of their parents. But would they accept the offer and make it work or there any agenda to avenge for the past are the remaining parts.

It's a musical like any fairytale. But average tracks. The performances were good, even the graphics are very acceptable. So colourful and visually appealing. I think this kind of trend began with the recent success of 'Maleficent'. So you must not expect the moral values, particularly I'm saying it for the parents. Because, this is about the villains and their children, so the majority of the film leans on the negative factors. But as usual, all ends well, if you consider that a message or learning point for your children.

Directed by 'Hocus Pocus' filmmaker. I was looking forward to watch it since it came out. Finally, I saw it and enjoyed it, but not the great film. The children's would love it, especially those who are familiar with the characters and its origin. Surely lot to expect, but I advise to keep your expectation low to benefit maximum. I have heard, they are already making the second film, which is due later this year. So I hope this time I watch it on the time.

6/10

I thought this was a great movie for children and adults who grew up with the original to show the new generation of our kids a new generation of the villains and princes and princesses.

My 4 year old daughter loves it so much she watches it on repeat and I find myself watching it with her each time.

The actor chosen for everyone was GREAT. And I can't wait for the next one. (book or movie) but I would defiantly read the book before watching the movie.

book is great too :)

enjoy

The offspring of some of the most notorious villains are given a second chance and attend high school off the isle of the lost where their parents were banished to.

Are the kids ROTTEN TO THE CORE? As the opening song suggests or is their still goodness in their hearts?

Cute albeit campy songs..but enjoyable overall.

Much cheese coming from the House of the Mouse!

Worth a look!

When I first heard & saw the news & trailer of this, I was feeling at the time "oooooo...... Thats a giant twist". All 3 movies are one of the greatests I've ever seen!!! Mal & evie are my most favorite vks of the whole bunch. They always behave as a old, but happy married couple. Dove Cameron and sofia carson are some of my most favorite actresses/singers as well.

I know there are things I and others tend to see in Disney Channel original movies, which is that these movies are too lighthearted, whimsical, safe, or by the numbers when it comes to the characters or the main plots with them occasionally having songs; when it came to this film I liked the actors, the idea of the film, and sometimes the way it looked, but really I was not sure how the film was going to go considering what Disney Channel has done in the past. The Disney Channel Original Movie called Descendants (2015) was enjoyable enough to watch with good enough performances, good songs, a fine premise, a mix of over-the-top and generic characters, cheesy or cringey lines of dialogue, ok CG digital effects, and certain annoying or unlikable characters; this film is a little by the numbers at points, but mostly it occasionally makes fun of certain things that happen in older Disney animated films, magic and spells, and how certain characters are related to famous Disney characters.

I liked Dove Cameron, Sofia Carson, Cameron Boyce, and Booboo Stewart as the villain kids Mal, Evie, Carlos, and Jay who all start out evil in a way that can make their transition into being good make sense, like Carlos learning to not be afraid of dogs despite being the son of Cruella De Vil or Jay being the son of Jafar wanting to be great at the sport at the school; Mal discovering love when liking prince Ben despite using him to get Fairy Godmother's wand, which I have seen something like this happen before, but it was believable enough and I kind of liked the building relationship between Mal and Ben. Prince Ben played by Mitchell Hope was not that bad of a character because he is the one who brought the main four villain kids to the kingdom Auradon and is willing to give them a chance for a better life, but he mostly just felt like a Disney prince from their older animated films like Cinderella (1950), where he feels generic and he does not have much else to his character except for being a prince and being the so called love interest to Mal. Lastly, the rest of the characters including other students at the school were either over the top in their performances or too cringey, with one character named Audrey who I hated throughout the movie, because she was annoying, selfish, an imbecile, and was just all around unlikable whenever on screen; also, all these side characters do not try to give the villain kids a chance to be good and instead avoid them like the plague in over the top ways.

The main villain is technically Maleficent played by Kristin Chenoweth, who gives an over-the-top cringey performance with her just saying how much she wants Fairy Godmother's wand, what she wants her daughter Mal to do at the school, and how cartoony evil she is; though they are not in the movie that much, along with Maleficent there are villains Cruella De Vil, Jafar, and Evil Queen who are all giving big performances and straight forward lines of dialogue that describe their personalities or who they are. The focus of the movie, other than getting the wand for domination, is the romance between Mal and Ben, which is not bad despite the use of a love potion at one point which leads to the third act for a certain reveal; the romance was believable and cute enough and the songs in the movie are good and catchy enough to listen, along with there being decent CGI visual effects when using magic or just casting spells in general with an occasional use of green screen that is noticeable.

The Disney Channel Original Movie called Descendants (2015) was enjoyable enough to watch with good enough performances, good songs, a fine premise, a mix of over-the-top and generic characters, cheesy or cringey lines of dialogue, ok CG digital effects, and certain annoying or unlikable characters; this film is a little by the numbers at points, but it can be enjoyable to watch and at least entertaining because of the Disney Channel Original Movie feel it has by being cheesy, cringey, or unintentionally funny. Lastly, I will just say that this movie is not excellent by any means, but you can put this on and not be upset by it, only watch this if you nothing better to do or just if have any free time; it is hard to complain about this film because you know what you are going to get going into it, and it is pretty much harmless to watch.

One of Disney's best plot ideas in a century. The Movie had a great plot to work with, and it managed it well.

Watching the teenage versions of Disney's most famous Heroes and Villains interact is both Interesting for younger generations and nostalgic for for people who grew up watching the parents of these children.

If you can look past some minor plot holes,(such as how most villain children only have 1 parent) the story is quite satisfying.

The music elements flow seamlessly thanks to High School Musical Director "Kenny Ortega". The Vocals are outstanding particularly by leads "Dove Cameron"(Mal), "Sofia Carson"(Evie) and Mitchell Hope(Prince Ben).

Overall the movie falls short in very few areas, with some cheesy songs pulling it down a little along with a predictable ending, but the movie is an instant classic among current Disney fans and a must see for all, old and new.