The exuberance of the images and colors of this story set in the mountains of Colombia, centered on a family with supernatural gifts, in which only its protagonist has remained deeply human, is enough to sustain the story when its motivations falter.

Charm (US / 2021). Direction : Jared Bush, Byron Howard and Charise Castro Smith. Screenplay : Jared Bush and Charise Castro Smith, on a story by Jason Hand, Nancy Kruse and Lin-Manuel Miranda. Photography : Alessandro Jacomini, Daniel Rice and Nathan Detroit Warner. encanto pelicula completa Music : Germaine Franco and Lin-Manuel Miranda (original songs). Edition : Jeremy Milton. Voices : Stephanie Beatriz, María Cecilia Botero, John Leguizamo, Angie Cepeda, Mauro Castillo, Jessica Darrow, Diane Guerrero, Carolina Gaitán, Wilmer Valderrama. Duration : 99 minutes. Distributor : Buena Vista. Qualification:suitable for all audiences. Our opinion: good

Encanto , the 60th animated feature film in the history of Disney Studios, enters immediately through the eyes. The exuberance of the images, the colors and the vitality of the characters give an almost irresistible visual framework to a story that idealizes the life of a small town nestled in the fertile mountainous region of Colombia.

The animation itself also dazzles our eyes. At this point, it should come as no surprise, since it is so repeated, this new display of talent from the best digital animators on the planet. But here we cannot take our eyes off everything that Encanto achieves every time an animated character achieves a perfect, almost prodigious harmony between facial movements and original voices.

What instead will cause some perplexity among us is the application to the story of the title chosen by Disney. When we use the term “charm” we always refer to the characteristics and attributes that we like about a person or something. Here it is used as a translation of the English word enchantment , which is nothing other than enchantment, spell, spell.

Encanto alludes here to the result of a magic pass, the one that surrounds the life of the Madrigal family after the sacrifice that one of the characters made in his youth, far and long ago, to save the rest. His widow, the imposing Grandmother, takes care of maintaining the benefits of this spell over time. Thanks to him, each of the new members of the family has a gift that is very similar to a superpower.

In this secluded, friendly and bucolic setting, the Madrigals function as a curious mix between the Eternals and the X-Men. With one exception: the restless and lively Maribel, who is voiced in the English-spoken copies by the Argentinean Stephanie Beatriz. Driven by this condition to a more concentrated and less joyful existence, Maribel constantly seeks explanations. He wants to understand why he had a destiny of suffering.

You will find them in a moment through the familiar black sheep, Cousin Bruno, who overnight decided to distance himself from the rest of the Madrigal. Understanding what happened to Bruno leads Maribel to jeopardize the family’s legacy and identity, raised through the catchy and energetic original songs of Lin-Manuel Miranda.

When things get complicated for Maribel and her family, the plot of the story becomes even more complicated. It is never clear if the gifts granted to these characters are born of a grace that makes them better or reveal a condition closer to selfishness and arrogance. This dilemma can never be resolved and the incident leads to a confusing outcome, barely hidden by the luminous energy of the environment. Before the film exhibits excellent animated short Far for the Tree ( Far from the tree ), to which they reach seven minutes to make clear the meaning and motivations of the characters in a story of learning and discovery.