Miraculous Ladybug: The Movie
I watched this one with my black cat. Mixed bag. I respect it as an improvement over the show (I saw the first season back when it was new) but it’s still nothing award worthy. The animation is significantly better, as is to be expected from TV to movie, but I felt the writing was a bit better too, if not by much. Seriously though, this movie is absolutely gorgeous, doubly so compared to the plastic Fortnite looking show.
The songs were fine but I didn’t remember any of them. I did like how Tikki’s song to Marinette in the antique store was a variant of the main theme. That was neat. I didn’t like how Marinette’s singing voice was clearly an octave lower than her normal voice (in the French version). I found that pretty distracting, as it’s really obvious those are two different voice actresses.
The movie had a midpoint music montage, which really took me back to Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man as all of those had one to establish a new status quo. This film used the method to the same effect. Despite this time skip, it only came after the Tuileries showdown, which was a bit of a problem for me. Marinette transforms once for Notre-Dâme, decides she hates it, then turns around and is fully committed by the next time there’s chaos. That in itself isn’t an issue. The problem comes from the fact that she’s seemingly master being Ladybug by the time of that second transformation. When did she hone all these skills?
I appreciate how much better they handled Nino and Alya’s relationship than in the show. The way he was in love with Marinette then pretended to be in love with Alya only to eventually actually love her never sat right with me.
One thing that was kinda strange was how little Master Fu was used. I expected him to personally interact with Marinette and Adrien in some capacity to explain their jobs but he just leaves it to the kwami. Cat Noir’s origin is also glossed over completely. Him meeting Plagg happens almost entirely offscreen. I get the desire to keep the focus on Marinette but I thought that was a pretty glaring omission.
I’m astounded at how many things aren’t explained. These are things that someone like me who’s seen the show understands but for the parents watching this with their kids? They’ll be lost in parts. Not completely, but stuff like the cataclysm and bye bye little butterfly are never explained and in fact only occur once each, where you’re just supposed to already know how they work. The movie also never provides any reason for Ladybug and Cat Noir not disclosing their identities to each other. It’s a straight up plot hole, since the entire love plot revolves around this.
The finale confused me a little as to whether they were aiming for a one-and-done or a string of sequels. They know the brand is profitable so I wouldn’t have faulted them for aiming for sequels but then they resolve everything at the end. Okay so I guess it’s standalone…except no, we’ve got a post-credits scene that isn’t even post-credits showing Nathalie with Emilie (wearing the peacock miraculous) and a voiceover from Gabriel. It’s incredibly vague but maybe someone who’s seen all two billion episodes knows what that’s about.
Either way, Hawkmoth’s whole storyline seems complete, which makes it all the more jarring when he teases a sequel like that afterwards. Hawkmoth and Cat Noir know each other’s identities and Hawkmoth gave up as soon as he found out so that’s clearly over. Meanwhile through all this they go through a bunch of gymnastics to not have Ladybug and Cat Noir discover each other’s identities in the same scene, only to then reveal them a few scenes later.
Speaking of which, Marinette reveals her identity to Adrien, but he never reveals his to her. I think we’re supposed to assume she figured it out because of his mask but I’m not sure. It’s really quite confusing. And why reveal their identities now? No reason is given.
Oh and I didn't like Tom in this one. Clingy dad Tom is an annoying subplot that goes nowhere.
Overall I’d say I enjoyed it but not immensely. It was a decent watch, but nothing remarkable.
That would change everything!