Secret Society of Second-Born Royals (2020)
5/10
Starring
Peyton Elizabeth Lee
Niles Fitch
Isabella Blake-Thomas
Olivia Deeble
Directed by Anna Mastro
With a mouthful of a title, this superhero movie is filled with tamed special effects. The director must have planned this for Disney Channel fans. Because even young adults who have seen MCU movies will not find this at all good enough to be impressed.
This is mainly because the whole movie felt like an elongated pilot. It is what would happen if you drop Lizzy McGuire and her friends in a world of superheroes, and gave them powers.
You would feel with the likes of Marvel under their belt Disney will not feel the need of making another superhero movie, even if it is just for Disney+. They have so many titles under the Marvel banner to choose from and so many stories to explore. Let us be real, Disney has made more than ten films under the PG-13 radar and they have been full of class, this movie fails in comparison.
Made especially for children, this movie introduces us to a world where we discover that second born royals have superpowers. The movie’s focus is Sam, who hates being a royal and is a rebel in many ways than not. After getting busted for a rebellious act she was sent to summer school, getting there she meets other second born royals and they were told, they all have powers.
We are then introduced to their teacher/mentor who has to train them on how to use and develop their powers. The summer class is filled with the stereotypical students you will expect from a teen movie as this, and please shelf your idea of thrill, because this is a cheesy setup, filled with all layers of cliché and guessable plot. Except Sam’s mothers role in the whole secret society, that I did not expect. Even the backstabbing I was waiting for, just did not know which member of this second born society will be the perpetrator.
The movie has an hour long training session, talk about not knowing what to do when you have introduced the actors. Director Anna Mastro made us watch these teens train for so long, which did not in the end add up when the bad guy showed up. The way the bad guy was dealt with and the events surrounding his accomplish, I felt like I had just watched a TV series pilot and a below par one at that.
The bad guy in this movie happens to be after Sam’s mother for revenge, which you have to really want to see this movie to know what this is all about.
The movie ended with them on another mission, I just hope Disney will save us the pain and keep that mission to themselves thank you.
You can catch this movie streaming on Disney+.