Descendants: The Rise of Red—A New Chapter in the Descendants Franchise with New Faces!

The most-awaited sequel of Disney’s Descendant movie series just dropped on July 12 and has been on hype ever since It is called ‘ Descendants: The Rise of Red, aka Descendants 4.
Caution: Spoiler Alert! If you haven’t seen the movie yet, continue reading at your own discretion!
The movie starts at a different timeline than the previous movies. The timeline is forwarded following the ‘ Descendants: The Royal Wedding’ events and an animated special before the current movie Descendants 4, also called Descendants: Rise of Red So, we can consider this newly released movie as Descendant 4. So, let us dive ahead with this movie review and find answers to questions like, “Does it succeed its predecessors with all new casts and story?”
Descendant 4: Popular Scores and Ratings
Here are the ratings you need to be aware of about Descendants 4! The ratings and scores are quite average, despite the hype. Is it bad? The opinions are divided. Fear not, we are here to debug this mystery and point out all the positive and negative aspects of the movie.
Source | Rating | Summary |
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Rotten Tomatoes | 5.2/10 | Mixed reviews, with some praising the catchy songs and dance sequences. |
Movieguide | Caution advised | Tries to suggest positive themes with unclear messages about good and evil. |
IMDb | 4.6/1o | Despite criticism, it ranks 4th on the rankings. |
Behind the Movie
Written by |
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Directed by | Jennifer Phang |
Starring | Kylie Cantrall, Malia Baker, Brandy Norwood, Dara Reneé, Ruby Rose Turner, Morgan Dudley, Melanie Paxson, Joshua Colley, Julee Cerda, Leonardo Nam, Paolo Montalban, Jeremy Swift, China Anne McClain, Rita Ora, and Peder Lindell |
Composer | Torin Borrowdale |
Country of origin | United States |
Original language | English |
Production | |
Executive producers |
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Producer | Wendy S. Williams |
Cinematography | Declan Quinn |
Editor | Katie Ennis |
Running time | 94 minutes |
Production companies |
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Plot Summary
The story of Descendants 4 revolves around Red, the girl who wants the love and approval of her evil mother, the Queen of Hearts, as she gets ready to attend Auradon Prep. As the Queen of Hearts succeeds the coup d’etat, the Red, unsure of her mother’s evil decision, decides to travel back in time along with Cinderella’s perfectionist daughter Chloe Charming as they try to undo the evil prank that turned the Queen of Hearts to evil clutches.
Characters Portrayal
On the Main Lead
- Red (Kylie Kantrall) is the daughter of the Queen of Hearts.
- Chloe (Malia Baker) is the daughter of Cinderella and Prince Charming.
- Maddox (Leonardo Nam) is the son of the Mad Hatter. ( plays quite an important role.)
Classic Disney Characters
- Queen of Hearts ( Rita Ora) from Alice in Wonderland.
Bridget, the Princess of Hearts (Rose Rose Turner), is in her teens.
- Cinderella ( Brandy Norwood) from Cinderella. Mother of Chad and Chloe
Ella (Morgan Dudley) is Cinderella in her teens.
- King Charming (Paolo Montalban) from Cinderella. Father of Chad and Chloe.
Prince Charming (TTristan Padil) is in his teens.
- Hook (Joshua Colley) from Peter Pan.
- Merlin (Jeremy Swift) from The Sword in the Stone. Is the principal of Merlin Academy. (later named Auradon Prep)
- Aladdin (Levin Valayil) from Aladdin.
-Kabir Bery played Aladin in his teen years.
- Jasmin (Shazia Pascal) is from Aladdin.
Aiza Azaar played Jasmin in her teen years.
- Fairy Godmother (Melanie Paxson)
Fay, aka young Fairy Godmother (Grace Narducci )
- Maleficent (Mars) in her teens.
- Hades (Anthony Pyatt) is in his teens.
- Evil StepMother (JJulee Cerda), aka Lady Tremaine.
Other Characters
- Uliana (Dara René) is the younger sister of Ursula.
- Morgie (Peder Lindell) is the son of Morgana le Fay.
- Jack of Diamonds (Alex Boniello) is the captain of the Queen of Hearts’s Red Army.
- Uma (China Anne McClain), daughter of Ursula, is the youngest principal of the Auradon Prep.
Plot Analysis
The movie begins after concluding events from the previous animated series Descendants: The Royal Wedding, the animated special after Cameron Boyce’s death. Initially, we can see that Uma is now Auradon Prep’s principal. Mal left her in charge, while she, Evie, and Jay traveled the world to forge alliances. We can also see the touching tribute to the late actor Cameron Boyce, who played the role of Carlos in the previous Descendant movie series.
Uma plans to invite Wonderland’s Red to attend the Auradon Prep to give all the VKs a second chance. Fairy Godmother, now the president of Auradon University, is unsure about it yet sends the invitation to Wonderland, which is hidden and locked behind the rabbit hole.
Now, the story leads us to see a happy family of Cinderella with her husband King Charming, and her daughter, Chloe, to whom she gifts the glass boots.
The scene then shifts to Wonderland with the entry of our main character, Red, rebelling against her mom, the Queen of Hearts, while dancing to the music ‘Red’. She just trashed the posters of the queen in her courtyard and is now being chased by the royal order of knights of Wonderland.
She escapes the pursuit with the help of her friend and her tutor, Maddox Hatter who happens to be the son of Mad Hatter. Maddox then gifts her his invention, the clockwatch, the time machine, warning her that if she wants to change the fabric of time with her truest desires, she will face dangerous consequences.
Soon after, we can see the Queen of Hearts enraged by the mess of her portrait in the courtyard and gives her daughter Red the chance to deliver judgment on the head of the Knights for failing to protect her portrait. But Red is rebellious and is unsure of her mother’s method. During the session, we see Maddox arriving with the invitation to Auradon Prep, which the Queen easily accepts, that is a surprise to her daughter Red, knowing that she hates Auradon.
When the mother-daughter duo arrives at the Auradon’s Welcome ceremony with the banger of the song ‘ Love ain’t it’, we can see a little conversation between Cinderella and the Queen of Hearts that gives us a glimpse of why she might be evil.
Soon the scene shifts to Uma giving her welcome speech with the fabulous dance of her iconic song ‘ What’s My Name!’ whose speech is interrupted by the playing with her deck of cards with the mindset of the coup against the Auradon, which she succeeds in. She punishes Cinderella, who refuses to kneel to her, by provoking her daughter to announce Cinderella guilty of treason, which Red soon regrets.
Cinderella’s daughter, Chloe, tries to go against the Queen but is stopped by Red, who is trying to turn back time with the watch that triggers along with both Red and Chloe’s touch.
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Now back in the fabric of a time unexpectedly, when the Auradon Prep was still the Merlin Academy run by Merlin. They both again bicker yet reconcile to save both of their mother’s future selves from the past. They meet Fay, the young Fairy godmother, who is bad with her magic.
The scene changes to Merlin Academy, where they somehow get into as transfer students and meet their mother’s past selves, who are quite opposite of their present selves. Chloe, still bound by the rules, tries to be straightforward, which is countered by the Red’s smartness.
We now can see both Red and Chloe meeting their mother’s past selves, which they find quite amusing and unbelievable. We can see the young Queen, now the princess of the Hearts as Bridget, a young, energetic, and vibrant girl with a pinkish style trying to fit in with the people at the Merlin Academy, not only the heroes but also the villains, along with the song ‘ Life is Sweeter’.
As the song continues, she distributes her magical cupcakes to everyone, which contain the rare ingredient Flamingo’s feathers. The cupcakes have severe side effects if consumed more than once. Minor side effects are just turning to a pink vibe. In the progression, we see the entries of villains like Uliana (UUrsula’s younger sister), Maleficient, Hades, Hook, and Morgana’s son Morgie.
Uliana the bully, annoyed by Bridget’s constant friendliness, grabs her cupcake’s main ingredient, all the flamingo feathers, with her tentacles and eats when Bridget tries to warn her of the consequences, and the reaction is insane as it turns Uliana’s hair pinkish and her face into a flamingo. She chases Bridget and Ella throughout the Merlin Academy, and failing to catch them, she falls to the water fountain, reversing the side effects. Unfortunately, Uliana is humiliated by Merlim’s students and swears to take revenge on Bridget.
Red and Chloe, knowing the cause behind Bridget’s evil turning, set out to find out how the VK’s plan to take revenge against Bridget in the Black Lagoon, the hideout for villains, which they come to know about through Ella, who is suffering the punishment grounded by her stepmother for letting her friends in the house.
The duo follows the VK’s into the Lagoon as the villains plan to sabotage the Castlecoming, the annual event for Bridget, by turning her into the monster with a cupcake made from a recipe from the forbidden book’Socerere’s Cookbook’ which is magically stored inside Merlin’s treasure vault, which can only be opened by people of good nature, according to Ella.
The day before the castle’s arrival, Red concocts a plan to steal the cookbook ahead of the villains, a scheme initially met with Chloe’s opposition. However, after consulting with Ella while assisting with garden tasks, Chloe eventually comes to terms with Red’s plan.
Red is now seen infiltrating Merlin’s office, soon accompanied by Chloe. Uliana and her group spot them and decide to wait until the pair have dealt with the security before swooping in to steal the item at the last second. The duo trying to reach the cookbook is attacked by the owls who control the security mechanisms of the office. One of the owls sneaks out and informs Principal Merlin, while another attacks the girls. The duo successfully defends themselves, with Chloe destroying her glass boots gifted by her mother to attack the owls and break the security.
As they try to reach the book, Uliana’s group barges in and snatches the book from them, not knowing that only people with good nature can open it, which the duo already knows. The Uliana and the group are frozen, being the villains with an evil nature cored to the bone.
Just as the principal Merlin enters, the duo successfully leaves the scene, making Uliana and the group of space goats detained from the academy. Now, both girls return to their rooms and return to the future, thinking everything is alright.
Yes, at the end, we can see everything positive with the changed Queen of Hearts, which can be distinguished by her dress being mostly pink with the red hinges. We can see Cinderella alive, and everyone is happy. However, Uma’s narration towards the conclusion hints that tampering with the fabric of time may not be the end, suggesting the possibility of future films.
Sound Tracks
We are welcomed by many amusing songs that align with the movie plot as we watch it. There are 13 songs, of which 10 originate from the movie. Descendant: Rise of Red has provided us with catchy tracks. Let us list all the songs in order.
1. “Red”
- This song at the very beginning showcases the rebellious nature of Red towards her mom, the Queen of Hearts.
2. “So This Is Love”
- This song features Chloe with her happy family, i.e., Cinderella and King Charming.
3. ” Love Ain’t It”
- This song features Red’s desire for love from her mother but her mother is forcing her to think that love is a shallow depiction of feelings that will ruin her based on her experience. This one contrasts with the previous song played, as Cinderella and the Queen used to be best friends.
4. “What’s My Name?”
- The Red version is customized for the film and serves as the original Uma song in the previous Descendants 2 and 3 series.
5. “Fight of Our Lives”
- The song captures the perspectives of both Red and Chloe as they come together for distinct reasons that ultimately lead them down the same path.
6. “Life Is Sweeter”
- It is a song representing the princess of hearts, Bridget, before she turns into the villainous Queen of Hearts.
7. “Perfect Revenge”
- This song, performed by Uliana and her band, unfolds their meticulous plot for revenge against the unsuspecting Bridget.
8. “Shuffle of Love”
- This song by Bridget is full of card game puns as she prepares her ” signature move” music for Castle Cming in the movie.
9. “Get Your Hands Dirty”
- This song comes when Chloe goes to young Ella to consult about the good and bad decisions and the strict ethical values are holding her back as she gets her confirmation.
10. ” Life Is Sweeter” ( Reprise and Remix)
- It is a reprise and remix of the original song ” Life Is Sweeter,” as the Queen of Hearts is not evil now with the tweaking of the timeline by Red and Chloe.
11. “Bad Reputation”
- The song features the main character, Red, and is associated with the movie but not included in its soundtrack. This isn’t the first instance of the series using this approach.
12. “Descendants: The Rise of Red Score Suite”
- This is just an instrumental song for the whole movie.
Our Thoughts!Descendant: Rise of Red
Truthfully, the plot of this movie is quite average, with magical elements and the typical Descendant vibe. Descendants: Rise of Red is enjoyable, with all the casts with magical yet vibrant or gloomy costumes. It continues the villain kid’s story well after Mal and the group’s original cast left the movie series after Boyce’s death. We are still missing the Og VKs. But we have to move forward with the new characters and the storyline.
Most songs are catchy and gaining popularity throughout Disney’s Descendant fan community. We can also see the hints and spoilers for the further continuity of Descendant: Rise of Red, aka Descendants 4, as we are left with a cliffhanger. The Queen’s dress is not entirely pink, raising the question of how Uliana and her group managed to sabotage Bridget during the Castlecoming, when the book, if opened by troublemakers, would cause them to freeze, as depicted in the film. Well with all these loopholes not explained, we can probably expect a future continuation of the series.
Disney’s Descendants: Rise of Red, aka Descendants 4, endorses diversity with cast and plotline. Despite the low ratings, its IMDB ranking is very high and we sure can expect the continuation of the movie series soon. We recommend watching this movie if you support the original Descendants. Although the film may lack the unique charm of the previous cast, we should respect their decisions.