Friday, August 10, 2018

Matt Groening's DISENCHANTMENT is Promising But Falls Short in First Two Episodes

We've been given the chance to take a peek at Matt Groening's latest animation foray with "Disenchantment". The series' first two episodes were interesting but lacked that gut punch to really strike a chord with us like Groening's previous contributions to the genre. While this shouldn't diminish expectations from the first season's overall enjoyment, we're hoping that "Disenchantment" founds its groove in those remaining episodes.
In "Disenchantment", we go to the crumbling medieval kingdom of Dreamland. On which we will follow the adventures or, in this case, misadventures of the hard-drinking young princess Bean, her not-so-gleeful elf companion Elfo, and her personal demon Luci. The series will feature the voice talents of Abbi Jacobson (“Bean”), Eric Andre (“Luci”), and Nat Faxon (“Elfo”). The first two episodes primarily focused on Bean's impending wedding to another prince wherein she needs to comply to secure her family's partnership with the other royal family.

Stating the obvious, the series is a spin on the "Fantasy" genre. In most cases, the jokes and one-liners were mostly acceptable. Its humor had moments that had us truly laughing-out-loud while some, well, fell flat. We could also say the same case for the satire. We like how it plays with the idea on how ridiculous some of the elements of the "Fantasy" or "Medieval" era were like elves being all too happy all the time or wizards not knowing what the hell they were doing but some felt a little forced. The story for the first two episodes was interesting. Like an episode from "The Simpsons", you can't expect what you're getting. The first hour of these two features a lot of medieval stereotypes, monsters and, creatures. The only gripe we had was how quick it develops its characters. A big example would be Elfo wherein he falls in love with an elf but finds himself also infatuated with Bean. If we could choose one thing that really stood out for "Disenchantment", it would be its visuals. The animation was clean and buttery-smooth and that Groening art style never gets old. In line with the visuals, the voice cast was also great.
Overall, "Disenchantment" lacks some polish in its humor and its story while the visuals and voice cast elevates its material. If it could find its groove and have a better rhythm and pace in its last eight episodes, there's no denying that Matt Groening could have another gem in the works. But judging from its first two episodes, there's still some work needed to be done for "Disenchantment" to make a mark.

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