Descendants: Wicked Wonderland truly is Wicked Review:
- miles rockket
- Jul 17
- 6 min read
Descendants: Wicked Wonderland is the latest entry in the hit Disney Channel franchise, and it's very clear they went BIG.
After the events of Rise of Red, Chloe (Malia Baker) and Red (Kylie Cantrall) find themselves trapped in a timeline where everything is completely different. Red now has a loving mother, the Queen of Hearts (Rita Ora), who takes every opportunity to show her affection, along with an unexpected sister, Pink (Liamani), who also embraces her with nothing but love. As the girls try to find their way back home, a new version of the Mad Hatter (Leonardo Nam) goes from friend to foe. They must team up with new allies, Hazel Hook (Kiara Romero), Luis Madrigal (Alexandro Byrd), and Max Hatter (Leonardo Nam) to save the Queen of Hearts from the deadly Mad Hatter.
This movie is a clear step up from the last film, even improving its visual presentation. There are several scenes throughout Wicked Wonderland that genuinely feel magical, and at times it almost feels surreal that you're watching a Disney Channel movie. The film has a mission to showcase just how much this franchise has grown, and director Kimmy Glenwood accomplishes that within the first ten minutes. The opening immediately hits you with a grand, ambitious, and colorful spectacle that convinced me this is the best looking Disney Channel film to date.
Kylie Cantrall delivers an amazing performance as Red, continuing to excel in the role. Throughout the film, Red is forced into a life she was never meant to live. She's portrayed as someone with a good heart who continuously makes bad decisions, not out of hate, but because she's desperately trying not to become the version of her mother she remembers. Ironically, those choices slowly push her toward becoming exactly that. Red's arc throughout the film is somewhat reminiscent of Mal's journey in the first two Descendants movies which I really enjoyed.
Malia Baker also does a fantastic job as Chloe, giving the character a much more personal and emotional journey. Chloe becomes far more relatable than the "perfect princess" we saw in the last installment, as her constant feeling of being undermined becomes the driving force behind many of her decisions. She also serves as a great contrast to Red, with the two developing a subtle rivalry that genuinely made me understand both sides of their conflict. Red has made hurtful decisions both before and during this movie, many of which directly affect Chloe. At the same time, Chloe also makes choices that create problems for both of them. What Wicked Wonderland does differently from the previous installments is that it allows us to connect with these characters on a much deeper level. Because of that, I genuinely think this might be the best-written Descendants film so far.
Wicked Wonderland also features the strongest supporting cast in the franchise. The rivalry between the HKs and VKs is consistently entertaining, adding plenty of energy whenever they're on screen. Hazel Hook is easily one of the best additions to the Pocket Watch saga thanks to her straightforward personality and Kiara Romero's incredible musical talent, which brings something completely fresh to the franchise. Luis Madrigal also became one of my favorites because of his dedication to being a hero. His story still ties beautifully into the themes of Encanto, where he feels like he has to become something greater simply because his family expects it of him.
One of the film's strongest character introductions is Max Hatter. Max struggles with proving that he isn't his father, but after discovering that, in a previous timeline, he and his father were considered the most sane people in Wonderland, he begins to feel obligated to embrace the role of the villain. It's an interesting internal conflict that gives the character much more depth than I expected.
Liamani also delivers a strong performance as Pink, introducing a character who clearly has a much bigger role to play in the future of this saga. While Pink doesn't have a great deal to do in this film outside of setting up what's to come, the ending makes it obvious that her importance is only beginning. Liamani makes the most of every scene she's given, but the script simply doesn't give her enough material to fully shine.
Of course, this wouldn't be a Disney Channel movie without the inclusion of music. The music for Wicked Wonderland blew me out of the water, as this film starts with such a resplendent opening for the song 'Perfect Princess'. The choreography provided by Emilio Dosal is spectacular and left me in awe, reminding me of something you'd see on stage at Broadway. The musical performance of this film is also complemented by the cinematography of this movie. I was quite shocked that this movie only had a budget of $95 million. Wonderland is almost 75% CGI, which would've been dreadful to watch in the original trilogy, but Wicked Wonderland went bigger than big. Disney even took the risk of having one of the antagonists as a fully 3D animated character, Chessey (Awkwafina).
Where this movie illuminates is with the older cast. Brandy as Cinderella never disappoints, but in this timeline, we have more of a connection with her. Cinderella's main goal is to try to protect not only her daughter but also her memories of the past. The Queen of Hearts is a main focus in the film, and it does not disappoint from what we learn in Rise of Red. Rita Ora portrays someone way more lighthearted this time around, yet still gets wronged by the rest of the world. Brandy and Rita play these friends that kind of lost each other through time apart, but during the song "The Girl I Used to Be," I couldn't help but have some déjà vu from the Space Between.
The main villain of this film, Mad Hatter, is one of, if not the best villain in the franchise. Leonardo Nam gives a prodigious performance and truly shows his range from the sudden transition his character has to go through. Mad Hatter felt threatening; he had an actual presence compared to any of the other bad guys we've had in this franchise, and also his song "MAD" is one of my personal favorites sitting in my playlist. I do think that the older cast should've had more time to shine as it feels like they had a lot more to do in the narrative but ends up giving us the short end of the stick.
This movie has few flaws, but it wouldn't be a movie without some. Wicked Wonderland has an issue with forcing some parts of the narrative, as it seems some of the character decisions don't make much sense. There's a scene where Red is forced to escape something, but it was completely avoidable realistically. There are a lot of moments in this film where it kind of feels undermined; there are parts sprinkled throughout this film where the girls could easily avoid the future conflict, but they kind of just gloss over it. There's also a problem with this film of introducing characters and doing nothing with them. Felix Faciliar (Zavien Garrett) and Robbie Hood (Joel Oulette) are in this film but more like ghosts that come in here and there. They drop in a scene and quickly transport out.
Descendants: Wicked Wonderland is an excellent installment and is slowly crawling into my top 3 in the franchise. The film is visually impressive for a DCOM, and I can't even fathom how this is a movie made for TV. Final Verdict: Fans of not only Descendants but musicals as a whole will love this film and even non fans might find them in for a treat. Descendants: Wicked Wonderland is a wonderful film and I give it a 8.1/10
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