For the Sake of the Sequel

Last week, I indulged in a story that didn’t turn out how I expected. I dare say, I was almost disappointed, but I understand why they ended it the way that they did.

The story was Disney’s Descendants; The Rise of Red. It’s not the first Descendants movie, but it’s one where you can get away without watching the movies that came before. If you haven’t seen it yet, you may want to stop reading because this post contains spoilers.

The film is about the daughter of the Red Queen of Wonderland and the daughter of Cinderella going back in time to stop the event that made the Red Queen so heartless. Turns out, the Red Queen was pranked on the night of a high school dance and that’s what made her so evil. The prank was done by the school bully and our two time travelers manage to stop it. However, how it was stopped didn’t sit right with me.

The two time travelers discover that the school bully and her gang are going to steal a forbidden cookbook (spellbook) from the principle’s office and to stop them, they decide to steal the book first. Despite their efforts, the bullies still get their hands on the book; however, once they open it, they’re charmed until the principle can uncharm them. Our time travelers head off with the book and head back to the future.

And it worked. The Red Queen isn’t evil. She’s loving and accepting of her daughter and the camera pans out to signify the ending. That is, until you hear the narrator say that isn’t the end of the story.

I’ll admit, I backed talked the narrator, because if that was the end that was a disappointing ending. Here’s my reasonings:

1. If the cook/spell book charmed the bullies once they opened it, they wouldn’t have been able to do the prank in the first place, because even without the intervention of the time travelers, the bullies would’ve gotten the book, opened it, then got charmed and caught.
2. Throughout the movie, you learn that the Red Queen and Cinderella were best friends in school. I got the impression that Cinderella wasn’t so good and perfect when she was younger and I suspected she might have been the one to pull the prank because that would’ve hit harder than your typical bully. It would’ve been the worst thing to happen to the Red Queen, right? She didn’t have any friends other than Cinderella and if Cinderella caused the prank, she would’ve lost everyone she cared about, and gained a broken heart that could lead her to villainy.
3. IT’S TIME TRAVEL! It doesn’t matter what story you read, watch, or play. If you mess with time, there IS consequences. When the heroes of the story got back to their original time, I was waiting for the next plot twist. I was waiting to see that they didn’t succeed or they made things worse, but instead, the heroes got exactly what they wanted. A quick, happy ending.

With the narrator’s endnote, they set up the sequel. They made it clear that this story is not meant to be a one and done tale. So, perhaps the quick, happy ending was meant to be a disappointment to make sure you come back when the sequel comes out. They’re leaving you curious to see how things go wrong and what Max Hatter really meant when he warned the daughter of the Red Queen that she might lose her mom if she messed with time.

There are many components that hint at a sequel. I realized that after watching the movie. In my opinion, setting up for the sake of a sequel is fine, but at least give a ending where your audience isn’t wondering “are you sure that’s it?”