Descendants: The Rise of Red

Walking into a Descendants movie in 2024 feels like stepping into a blender filled with neon glitter and sugar-free energy drinks. It is loud, it is incredibly bright, and it assumes you have the attention span of a goldfish on a caffeine bender. Yet, as the fourth entry in a franchise that many assumed had peaked with the late Cameron Boyce, The Rise of Red manages to do something surprisingly difficult: it restarts the engine without stalling, even if it eventually forgets to put the car in park.

My neighbor was power-washing their driveway the entire time I watched this on Disney+, and the rhythmic drone weirdly synced up with the techno-pop beats of the opening number. It added a certain industrial grit to a film that is otherwise polished to within an inch of its life.

A Legacy of Glass Slippers and Spray Paint

The film’s greatest weapon is nostalgia, but not the 1950s kind. We’re talking about 1997 nostalgia. By casting Brandy and Paolo Montalbán to reprise their roles as Cinderella and King Charming from the iconic Rodgers & Hammerstein TV movie, Disney effectively issued a tactical strike on the hearts of Millennials. Seeing them onscreen together again is a genuine "streaming era" win—a moment designed for social media screenshots that actually carries some emotional weight.

However, the focus quickly shifts to the next generation. Kylie Cantrall plays Red, the rebellious daughter of the Queen of Hearts, while Malia Baker steps in as Chloe, the perfectionist daughter of Cinderella. When the Queen of Hearts (Rita Ora, leaning into the "Off with their heads!" camp with the subtlety of a sledgehammer) stages a bloody—well, glittery—coup on Auradon Prep, the two girls use a magical pocket watch to skip back in time to their parents' high school days.

The "Merlin Academy" sequences are where the film finds its groove. We meet Ruby Rose Turner as Bridget (the future Queen of Hearts), who is essentially a pink-obsessed ball of sunshine who loves baking cupcakes. Watching her interact with a young, slightly snobbish Ella (Morgan Dudley) provides the film’s most interesting question: what actually turns a "good" person into a villain?

The "Volume" and the Vibes

Director Jennifer Phang brings a bit more cinematic intentionality to the proceedings than we usually see in the Disney Channel Original Movie (DCOM) lineage. While the use of virtual production (The Volume) is obvious in some of the more sprawling Auradon vistas, the production design at the academy feels tactile and fun. It’s a "coquette-core" dreamscape that feels very now—all pastel ribbons and tactical combat boots.

The music follows suit. While nothing quite reaches the infectious heights of "Rotten to the Core" from the original film, the soundtrack is a competent mix of pop-punk and hip-hop. Dara Reneé steals every scene she’s in as Uliana (Ursula’s sister), leading a villainous crew that feels like a high-fashion version of a 1980s dance movie gang. Her musical numbers have an edge that the rest of the film occasionally lacks.

But for all the visual flair and catchy hooks, there’s no getting around the fact that the plot has the structural integrity of a wet paper towel. The "adventure" aspect of the film involves a lot of sneaking around hallways and looking for a magical book, which works for a while, but then the movie just... stops.

The Cliffhanger Conundrum

In our current era of "franchise world-building," we’ve become accustomed to movies feeling like episodes of television. The Rise of Red takes this to an extreme. Just as the emotional stakes reach their boiling point and the time-travel consequences begin to manifest, the credits roll. It’s an abrupt ending that feels less like a narrative choice and more like someone accidentally hit the "export" button on the editing software twenty minutes too early.

I felt a genuine sense of "Wait, that’s it?" which is a testament to how much I was actually enjoying the chemistry between Kylie Cantrall and Malia Baker. They play off each other with a classic "odd couple" energy that keeps the stakes feeling personal even when the world-building gets fuzzy. Red’s cynicism vs. Chloe’s unwavering belief in the "rules" is a dynamic that could have used another half-hour of breathing room to truly resolve.

Ultimately, The Rise of Red succeeds as a vibrant, inclusive expansion of a world that clearly still has life in it. It acknowledges its history while sprinting toward a Gen Z (and Gen Alpha) aesthetic. It’s a film that knows its audience wants high-fashion costumes, relatable teenage angst, and a few bops to add to their playlists. If it feels a bit hollow in its final act, it’s likely because the studio is betting on us coming back for the inevitable sequel.

This is a bright, breezy adventure that manages to honor the Descendants legacy while carving out its own neon-soaked identity. While the pacing is lopsided and the ending is non-existent, the performances—especially from Ruby Rose Turner and the central duo—make the trip to Merlin Academy worth the watch. It’s a candy-colored reminder that even in an era of franchise fatigue, sometimes a little glitter and a catchy chorus are all you need to keep the magic going.