Movie · Disney+ · 2014

The Amazing Spider-Man 2

A promise, then a spectacle that spends the girl. Not for the table. Adults, and even then it is a mess.

Peter promised a dying father he would stay away from Gwen. He cannot. The film wants both the romance and the tragedy of it, and it also wants Electro and a corporate heir and an ending that sets up a store. Gwen is the person. She is also, structurally, the cost. That is an old cheapness, and naming it does not make the film careful.

Skip it with children. If you are grown and you watch, watch the promise. A city full of lights is not a reason. He is not serious until he is too late, and the film is not serious about what it spent.

The eight

Industry
5/10
School, a job at the paper, a laboratory. Scattered.
Household
4/10
An aunt. A girl used as the stake. His parents are a mystery the film cares about more than the living.
Piety
2/10
A vow he treats as optional.
Courage
6/10
He goes toward the danger. He does not face the promise.
Republic
3/10
A city as a set of targets.
Temperance
3/10
He wants every good at once.
Truth
4/10
The parents' secret is a puzzle. Gwen's death is a fact the franchise wanted.
Stewardship
3/10
What is left is a setup, not a life.

Live historicallyDo not make a vow you intend the plot, or your mood, to cancel.

Movie · Disney+ · 2015

Descendants

A song about being good, aimed at the children of brands. Light, and shallower than the lesson it announces.

Ben, the son of Belle and the Beast, thinks mercy is letting the villain kids into Auradon. Mal and her friends think a heist is the point, and then think friendship might be. The island is a collective punishment, which is the interesting idea, and the film drops it for a coronation number. Parents are cameos. Goodness is a style that wins the dance.

A child who wants it can watch one. Say that a person's parent is not their sentence, and that a song is not a character. If they want the sequel immediately, you have learned that the product works. Stop after one anyway.

The eight

Industry
3/10
A school of privilege. Little work.
Household
4/10
Parents as famous silhouettes. The teenagers are the whole company.
Piety
2/10
Goodness as school spirit.
Courage
4/10
They risk the plan for each other, late.
Republic
4/10
A kingdom as a campus.
Temperance
4/10
Mischief is the texture, redeemed on schedule.
Truth
5/10
The better line is that a child is not the parent. The film does say it.
Stewardship
4/10
What is handed on is a franchise of famous names.

Live historicallyJudge a child by what they do this week, not by their parent's reputation. And do not accept a dance as the reform.