Societe secrete de la royaute

The successful trailer for Secret Society of Second-Born Royals foreshadowed a successful mix between an X-men superhero movie, a spy movie close to the Kingsman movie saga and a fantasy tale aimed at a very young audience like Descendants. Unfortunately, the result is closer to a bland TV movie and lacks originality and rhythm. Yet the potential was there to begin with the presence of an endearing cast with Peyton Elizabeth Lee (Sam), Skylar Astin (James Morrow), Élodie Yung (Queen Catherine), Greg Bryk (Inmate 34), Alli Chung (Louise Bennett), Isabella Blake-Thomas (Princess January), Olivia Deebl (Princess Roxana) and Niles Fitch (Prince Tuma). The musical numbers are quite effective but Anna Mastro's direction never succeeds in transcending her story and is content with a too wise staging.

In the kingdom of Illyria, Sam, a rebellious teenager with a passion for music is one of the two daughters of Queen Catherine. Much more interested in playing music with her friend Mike than in behaving like a real princess, she will discover that she has superpowers that she hasn't mastered yet. After attending a concert with Mike, she is forced to attend summer classes with Tuma, Roxana, Janvier and Matteo. She will realize that her presence in this class has a completely different vocation than studying. Indeed, like her other classmates, she is there to learn how to master her powers and their teacher James Morrow is there so that they can integrate if they succeed in passing various tests to join the Secret Society of Second-Born Royals. So here are his young superheroes who need to train before they go to confront a dangerous criminal who has escaped from prison.

While the Secret Society of Second-Born Royals scenario was not a brilliant originality, it did provide a solid foundation for a new franchise aimed at a very young audience. What was appreciated in Disney film series for television such as High School Musical was that they were not trying to hide what they were not. Behind High School Musical, there was a real director with a passion for music who managed to bring a real breath to the story and especially the presence of two young stars Vanessa Hudgens and Zac Efron who brought their fragility and strength to their characters. The result was excellent musical numbers and a real alchemy between them.

In the case of Secret Society of Second-Born Royals, we find ourselves with a Disney film cruelly lacking in charm, a pale aseptic copy of the X-men. No truly successful scene leaves an indelible memory. One could almost say that the quality to which Disney has accustomed us to television is lowered here by a notch. The director Anna Mastro had shown herself convincingly by directing episodes for series such as Shameless (USA) and Jane The Virgin. While wanting to respect the specifications of Disney, she forgot to take care of the form of her film, to propose spectacular special effects (one would think in certain scenes, returned in B series of the Eighties). Of course, this film is intended for a very young audience but this should not prevent this film from being aesthetically pleasing, especially since the other films offered exclusively on the Disney + streaming platform had nothing to envy the cinema releases and above all proved to be an excellent showcase to show that the Disney + programs were a sign of quality. The Secret Society of Second-Born Royals is nothing more and nothing less than a B-series without any real charm, quickly cobbled together like a pure marketing product.

As it was recently the case with the very disappointing Artemis Fowl, the Secret Society of Second-Born Royals can't convince at any time and the Disney magic really seems to be running on empty. So, we can't encourage you to discover this movie, especially since there are really excellent movies and series on Disney + that currently make it a worthy competitor to Netflix and Amazon Prime video (we advise you to subscribe to all three).

Secret Society of Second-Born Royals
Directed by Anna Mastro
Produced by Zanne Devine, Mike Karz, Austin Winsberg
Screenplay by Alex Litvak, Andrew Green
Story by Alex Litvak, Andrew Green, Austin Winsberg
Starring Peyton Elizabeth Lee, Niles Fitch, Isabella Blake-Thomas, Olivia Deeble, Noah Lomax, Faly Rakotohavana, Ashley Liao, Sam Page, Greg Bryk, Elodie Yung, Skylar Astin
Music by Leo Birenberg
Cinematography: Jaron Presant
Edited by Evan Ahlgren
Production company: Disney Channel,
Distributed by Disney+, Disney Media Distribution
Release date: September 25, 2020 (World)
Running time: 99 minutes

Seen on September 25 on Disney +

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