Spellbound is a weird one. By the way the Netflix app on my tv introduced it as a boot-up splash screen – nearly full screen with a play button – I guess they think they are onto something big. Or Skydance Animation just threw a bucket of cash at them for promotion. And yet, after watching it, never before has there been a more obvious “yeah that was pretty decent” 3 star movie.

This is an animated flick about a teenage princess in a fantasy kingdom whose parents have turned into monsters. Literally. Now she has to figure out how to turn them back before *gasp* the royal court makes her queen and exiles them.

Everything about this movie is perfectly fine. Its CG art style and animation is a bit generic but colorful and lively. The songs get the job done but almost have no big or hummable themes. The dialog is fine, if a little try-hard with the modern slang. The characters and mascots and whatnot are ok.

The one thing the film does right though is slowly unravel a surprisingly mature theme about parents and children. It won’t shatter your world or blow your mind, but for an unassuming kids’ cartoon, it’s more mature than I would have expected. And far less generic than the usual “you can do it” or “just believe” platitudes of too many kiddie movies.

The runtime is deceptive though. It reads an hour and fifty minutes which, as a Netflix movie, could mean anything. And the film takes about an hour to actually get its ass in gear. But don’t believe the lies… it’s got fifteen (15!) minutes of credits… so its really just an energetic ninety-five. I wish it had spent less time in what amounted to an extended first act <glances at watch>. Pretty sure the first forty-five could’ve been better spent.

So, yeah, this is a perfectly ok animated film… which given how I’ve been Mr. Frowny Pants about a lot of animation this year, is a positive rave of a review. It’s not necessarily worth the big Netflix splash screen promotion, but I’ve slammed my fingers in a car door before and that’s much worse. So, yeah, maybe watch it… maybe don’t. It’s charming and good enough.

Score: 79