Flora and Ulysses Review (Disney+ Original Movie)

    Hey everyone welcome back to Silver Screen Spectacle! We’ve got another new movie review today for Flora & Ulysses. This film is based on the award-winning book of the same name from 2013. The plot follows the adventures of a young girl named Flora and a super-powered squirrel. Released on Disney+ on February 19th of 2021, the film was met with an overall positive response. With that said, let’s get to the review...

    I am pleasantly surprised with this movie. I haven’t been the biggest fan of most of Disney+’s original films, but this had me smiling throughout. Matilda Lawler was a great find for Disney. She has great comedic timing and handles the dramatic scenes fairly well. She’s not perfect but for a child, actress it’s an excellent job. Benjamin Evan Ainsworth does a fine job with what he’s given, but his role doesn’t demand much. Despite that, he is pretty good at physical comedy. Alyson Hannigan and Ben Schwartz were a believable couple, and I bought their romance more than I expected too. Out of the two, Schwartz just has more to do, so his moments hit better. I was not a fan of Danny Pudi’s animal control villain. This character just felt so out of place with everything else. However, he had one hilarious scene involving a CGI cat. 

    Lena Khan is a pretty talented director, especially for her first Hollywood movie, and I hope she continues to improve. While nothing stood out about the direction, it’s definitely solid and above serviceable. The script by Brad Copeland based on Kate DiCamillo’s novel is pretty good. I haven’t read the novel, so I cannot speak to the accuracy of the film. I can say that while there are jokes that missed and moments that made me cringe, they were not the majority. There were plenty of moments here that had me laughing really hard, especially a Titanic joke that killed me. The main cast was all written likable, and this is easily my favorite message I’ve seen in a kid’s film in a long time. The CGI on the squirrel looked great and fairly convincing throughout. Despite getting some laughs out of me, the cat looked atrocious, though it didn’t really distract me much honestly. The movie moves at a good pace, though lost me when we weren’t following our leads. Still, at a brief 95 minutes, the movie flies by.

    So overall Flora & Ulysses was a pleasant surprise for me. While certainly not a movie I adored, they won me over with its charming innocence. If you’re looking for an easy-to-watch time killer give this a look it’s worth your time. So guys, that’s it for this review as always if you enjoyed it give it a share and I’ll see you next time. 

6.5/10