I am a ballet fan. I love everything about this form of
dance, so when I saw available on Netflix Leap,
an animated feature film about a girl who wants to be a dancer, I was
intrigued. The film is rated PG for some impolite humor, and action.
Not a great story, but an interesting one, Felicie (voiced
by Elle Fanning) and Victor (Dane DeHaan) are two older children in an
orphanage in Brittany, France. They want to escape, and go to Paris to fulfill their
dreams. Here is my first complaint. Why would anyone care if a few children escaped
from an orphanage? It’s not like they were toddlers after all, but the Mother
Superior sends Luteau (Mel Brooks) to pursue them and bring them back.
Eventually, the two friends do make a successful escape and
arrive in Paris, a city where dreams come true. Felicie ends up at the Grand
Opera House in pursuit of her dream to become a dancer, and Victor finds a job
as an assistant in the workshop of the architect of the Eiffel Tower and the
Statue of Liberty, both currently under construction.
I found the city of Paris during these famous changes to the
skyline to be enchanting. Felicie encounters Odette (Carly Rae Jepsen), (named
after the ballerina in Swan Lake), a woman with a limp who is housemaid to a
“dance mom” and her daughter Camille (Maddie Ziegler). Camille trains
incessantly so she will win a role in the upcoming Nutcracker performance.
Felicie steals the acceptance letter for Camille and enters the school of
ballet under false pretences. At first awkward and a complete beginner, she
prevails and begins to learn, especially when Odette begins instructing her.
The music of the film was taken from famous ballets, and
that part was fun. Let me be clear: if you are a young girl who loves dance and
especially ballet, you will like this film. If you are someone like me who is
an adult and loves ballet, this little film may amuse you. Anyone else, please
don’t bother.
The ending message is to not give up, and to follow your
dreams, noble thoughts, but the stealing of the letter to get into ballet school
is clearly not the way to go.
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