Musicals On TV - Descendants 3

Disney, 2019
Starring Dove Cameron, China Anne MacLain, Chyanne Jackson, and Sarah Jeffery
Directed by Kenny Ortega
Music and Lyrics by various

Star Wars and The Avengers weren't the only sci-fi/fantasy series popular with teenagers that ended last year. In 2018, Disney announced that the third Descendants film would be the last. How does the final tale of Mal and her friends fare? We start in the Isle of the Lost this time, where the impoverished citizens dance in the street and change is in the air...

The Story: Mal (Cameron) and her friends are thrilled to return to the Isle of the Lost and bring four more villain teens to Auradon Prep. The same day, King Ben (Mitchell Hope) proposes to Mal, insisting that he wants to make her Queen of Auradon. His former girlfriend Audrey (Jeffery), daughter of Sleeping Beauty, is seething with jealousy. She steals Malificent's wand and the Queen's Crown from the Museum of Cultural History. Mal panics and decides that the best way to contain her would be to close the portal between the Isle of the Lost and Auradon. When Audrey attacks Mal, she, her friends, and new Auradon student Ceila (Jadah Marie) return to the Isle of the Lost to find Mal's father, former God of the Underworld Hades (Jackson). He has an Ember, a stone that could boost her powers enough to defeat Audrey.

Meanwhile, Audrey attacks Jane's (Brenna D'Amico) birthday party, putting almost everyone to sleep. Jane manages to escape. Ben's not so lucky and is attacked as well. Back on the Isle of the Lost, Uma (MacLain) and her crew, including Harry Hook (Thomas Dohtery) and Gil (Dylan Playfair), steal the ember and refuse to return it unless Mal agrees to let all the Isle kids attend Auradon. Mal and Uma finally admit it'll take combining powers to defeat this good princess gone bad...and that maybe everyone has a little bit of good and bad in them.

The Song and Dance: An enjoyable finale with a mildly darker undertone. Sexy Jackson absolutely steals the show as the smokin' hot (in all forms of the words) Hades. He's almost as funny as James Woods in the original Hercules, plays beautifully off Cameron, and sounds great in the numbers. McClain and Dohtery are just as much fun here as they were in the previous movie. Also, this is a good place to praise the costumes for the entire series. Disney Channel did some incredible work here. The outfits on adults, kids, Isle and Auradon residents alike are colorful, elaborate, and beautifully represents a modern idea of Disney's classic properties.

Favorite Number: Once again, we kick off with a large-scale group number with the villain kids. Mal and her pals invite the other kids of the Isle of the Lost to come to Auradon in "Good to Be Bad." Jeffery declares that she's the "Queen of Mean" as she breaks into the museum and transforms herself from prom queen to evil sorceress in pink. Jackson and Cameron reveal their frustrations at how their lives have turned out in "Do What You Gotta Do."

Trivia: Tragically, Cameron Boyce, who played Carlos, died in his sleep of an epileptic seizure in July 2019 a month before the premiere of the film. Disney postponed the red-carpet premiere in deference to his death and dedicated the movie in his memory.

What I Don't Like: First of all, the makeup on Ben when he's the Beast looks terrible. Not believable at all (or much like his dad in either animated or live-action film). The kids' acting has improved, and it's nice to see more of the adults...but this is still, at its core, a fantasy-oriented version of the same teen cliches Disney's thrown into every musical they've done for cable starting in the early 2000's. It really doesn't bring much that's new to the table.

The Big Finale: All three films are a lot of fairly harmless fun if you're a fan of the Disney animated films, the other Disney Channel musicals, or are kids between 8 and 14 or their parents.

Home Media: As the most recent release of the three, the DVD will cost you a little more. It just debuted on Disney Plus this past week.

DVD
Disney Plus