Review: Miraculous: Ladybug & Cat Noir – The Film Delivers Action, Romance, and Music

Ladybug aka Marinette and Cat noir aka Adrian still have no idea that they have long known each other in their everyday identities at school. Fig.: Studiocanal

“Miraculous: Ladybug & Cat Noir – The Film” is a mix of action, romance and music film

Now the time has come: Ladybug fans can finally find out in the home theater how the Parisian girl Marinette got her red-black superpowers, whether Adrian falls in love with her everyday self and how the big final monster fight between good and evil will turn out. “Miraculous: Ladybug & Cat Noir – The Film” has been available in the video stream since October 19th. As of today, the French mix of superhero animated film and musical for children is also available on DVD and Bluray – here, by the way, with no age restrictions, while the film was still rated FSK 6 in the cinema.

The Story: Magical creatures transform awkward teenagers into heroic saviors of Paris

The clumsy teen girl Marinette stumbles clumsily through school life and just can’t end up with her crush Adrian. Above all, she lacks self-confidence until – yes, until a little magical creature turns her into the superhero Ladybug. At the same time, Adrian also gets such a “Miraculous” and mutates into his heroic alter ego “Cat Noir”. Together, the two are unbeatable and beat up the villains of Paris, who are sent by the supervillain Hawk Moth to plunge the city into chaos. Both teenagers know each other both in the everyday world at school and in the heroic action above the rooftops of Paris. But for a long time they don’t recognize each other’s secret identities. And so it happens, as it has to happen in romantic teen films: Marinette falls in love with Adrian, who in turn loves Ladybug, but she rejects him – and the young audience is constantly excited to see when the heroes will finally get together find.

Promotional video from Studiocanal:

In the film, director and screenwriter Jeremy Zag primarily tells the yesterday and tomorrow of this superhero romance: how Ladybug and Cat Noir get their Miraculouses and initially grow quite laboriously into their new roles – and finally about the final fight with Hawk Moth. In this respect, this 3D production, to a certain extent, reframes the plot of the “Miraculous” series, which is the basis for all of this.

Disney’s unmistakable role model

What is immediately noticeable: In the film of the series there is a lot of singing and you can feel the Disney model in style and narrative structure on every corner. There is no longer much trace of the roots in the Japanese “Sailor Moon” anime and European traditions. Given a record budget of 80 million euros, the makers probably wanted to play it safe in America. The positive side of it is that this 3D film actually looks very professionally made. And: Our young test viewer was literally freaking out with enthusiasm while watching it. Quote: “Because Ladybug and Cat noir worked together and won. And the songs were beautiful too.”

There are also karaoke videos in the bonus section

There are also a few bonuses waiting for the young fans on the Bluray: ultra-short documentaries about the Miraculous, character development, music and singers, a slightly longer documentary about the entire production and karaoke music videos to sing along to. By the way, Jeremy Zag promises two more Ladybug films – it will become a trilogy.

Conclusion: target audience hit

Spectacular hour and a half of romance, action and music for the young, obviously predominantly female target audience. Appears professional and doesn’t need to hide behind international models. However, your own creative accents are limited.

Quick overview:

Title: “Miraculous: Ladybug & Cat Noir – The Film” Original title: “Miraculous, le film” Genre: Superhero 3D animation and musical for children Rating: Rated for ages 0 and up Running time: 99 minutes Director & screenplay: Jeremy Zag Production countries and -Year: France, USA, Canada and England 2021

Author of the review: Heiko Weckbrodt

Advertising: The film is available here, among other places