The Secret Society of Minor Princes, preview review
The Secret Society of the Lesser Princes was directed by Anna Mastro and scripted by Alex Litvak. The protagonist is Payton Elizabeth Lee, previously seen in the role of Andy Mack in the Disney Channel children's TV series of the same name, who leads a heterogeneous and lively group of real recruits that invites audiences of all ages, but above all the little ones, to temper their destiny and rediscover the superhero that everyone has within themselves.
The Secret Society of the Minor Princes: s superhero aristocrats out of the ordinary
The story tells the story of Sam, a young girl daughter of the queen of the kingdom of Illyria, but second in line after her older sister. This age problem makes her intolerant from an early age and begins to lose interest in royalty, preferring a more modest life and a classic teenager full of energy and very often rebellious ideas. Sam, therefore, constantly wonders what it means to be a princess, but unlike her older sister Eleanor who already has her destiny, she prefers to play music and have fun with her bandmate and best friend Mike.During a rock concert, to which the protagonist goes with her friend after abandoning an important real commitment, the girl discovers that she has superpowers thanks to a genetic trait attributed only to second children of royal descent. Due to a problem arising from this discovery, the two boys are thrown out of the pub where the concert was held and are arrested.
It is at this point that Sam's mother, Queen Catherine, tired of her daughter's restless behavior, decides to take her to a summer boarding school where she meets four other minor princes who also have special powers . From here the Secret Society of Minor Princes is formed, in which their instructor and mentor James is also present who teaches them how to master the powers and above all to work as a team in order to save the world from a dark enemy gifted, in turn. , of frightening powers.
Although the plot is not the most original we have seen around, being a product dedicated mainly to a young audience it is quite enjoyable and intriguing. The story is smooth and somewhat linear, with a few twists here and there quite simple, but functional. Furthermore, it is a bit unusual to observe superheroes belonging to aristocratic families and this is certainly a flicker of not indifferent originality with curious implications in the course of history.
Caricature and cliché characters
The characters are discreetly characterized, but in the most "Disney-like" way possible: the only characters whose personal and family background we can substantially know are the protagonist Sam (complete with flashbacks regarding the deceased father) and the best friend Mike, while of the other characters, Tuma (Niles Fitch), Roxana (Olivia Deeble), January (Isabella Blake Thomas) and Matteo (Faly Rakotohavana), we can understand their characteristics only from the way they behave with others, from the way they solve problems or short chats between them.The classic clichés are just around the corner and in fact after just fifteen minutes of film we realize that if in a team there are a blonde and a black boy, the first will be the freak of the group and the second the one who will suffer the most from training and who will have to be helped more often by the team. Then we have the intelligent and smart curly boy and the very studious and prepared girl, but who does not apply herself properly. Obviously, it is the protagonist, leader of the group, who will save the protagonists from various dangers more than once.
We certainly would not have expected a sophisticated and layered plot, given the target audience a to whom the work is dedicated, but we would have imagined a greater care in the characterization of the characters or at least a departure from the classic stylistic features of the Disney brand products for children. Elements that also appear in some scenes, such as the most emblematic one in which the team of superheroes, during a free day, goes for a swim in the sea and everything is accompanied by slow motion scenes, cancellation of the ambient sound and a song by cheerful and rocking background.
Fights and morality: two sides of the same coin
In short, it is a perfect prototype of a Disney product for children with its positive and negative aspects. In fact, putting aside the narrative and going more on the technical side, we realize how much a product of this kind, which tries to compare a bad and ruthless adult and the good young and inexperienced, is then penalized in the realization. Let's start, for example, with the most emblematic aspect: the fighting scenes are present, but substantially they lack any logical sense or bite.Since there is no explicit physical violence, the producers have made the decision to equip the characters with powers that allow you to strike from a distance or invisibly. The fight scenes, therefore, almost never show physical contact other than, for example, blocking one's opponent through a tackle. In moments where perhaps there is a punch or a kick, the bodies are never framed in the moment of contact, but only the consequence is observed, often in slow motion, which can be a character who is thrown into the air or immobilized on the ground. All, of course, without any traces of blood or obvious wounds. At most, as happens with the instructor James, you will see an ambulance putting a collar on him, but from the outside you can see nothing despite being thrown against a tree for many meters.
These scenes are awkward by see as regards the movements of the actors, which seem almost caricatured and are forced when the clash sees the visibly weaker and less experienced contender win. If you think that the characters of the team are high school students who are anything but independent, still strongly linked to the family and until recently totally unaware of their powers, we understand how much the desire to benefit the good ones comes before any rationality. br>
The most interesting parts, in fact, are precisely those in which fiction is not too far from reality and are also those scenes in which The Secret Society of Minor Princes inserts the most important teachings for small and large spectators. In these it is possible to discover and learn the strength of friendship and family union and how important it is to follow one's dreams to strengthen one's destiny, but at the same time how harmful it can be to do it with extreme stubbornness and carelessness. In short, it cannot be said that Disney is not adept at inserting teachings and morality into its works, and in this case it does so with a certain maturity without useless melodramas or heavily dull scenes.
In conclusion…
The Secret Society of Minor Principles is therefore a film that perfectly follows the stylistic features of Disney children's products and does so by exaggerating. We find all the strengths and weaknesses of these productions: characters full of clichés, simple, linear and intriguing story, fight scenes without logic and violence and teachings rich in morality, but also of maturity. It is not a bad product, indeed we believe that it is perfect for the target audience it is intended for, but we expected a little more originality and inventiveness also because there were all the cards on the table for a fresh and innovative product.Would you like to see Disney + on your television, but don't have a Smart TV available? Here is the Amazon Fire Tv Stick that will allow you to have all streaming platforms and not just within your app!
