“Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug & Cat Noir” – Parisian Magic [Review]
Title: “Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug & Cat Noir”
Date of Release: 2023
Director: Jeremy Zag
I went to see “Miraculous” with my daughter, who has been a fan of the famous international animation series for years. And we both left the cinema satisfied – she, because she saw her beloved characters on the big screen, and I, because alongside colorful adventures and funny gags the creators smuggled in a simple, but very valuable message. And all this in the setting of beautifully shown Paris, where love magic always works.
“Miraculous Film” – from the small to the big screen
“Miraculum” is an international animated co-production that has taken the hearts of young viewers around the world by storm. The Japanese-Korean-French series was first broadcast in 2015, first in South Korea and then in France. A total of five seasons of the series have been produced, and the last one will premiere this September. The series is set in Paris, where a seemingly ordinary pair of teenagers live: Marinette and Adrien. She is a modest baker’s daughter who doesn’t have many friends, and he is a popular boy at school, for whose favor the school beauties vie. Marinette and Adrien know and like each other, but neither of them suspects the other of harboring a secret that unites them.
After all, the teens are superheroes chosen by higher powers to protect the city from the evil that threatens it. Marinette, under the mask of Ladybug, and Adrien the Cat Noir, fight the Acums, or evil demons sent by the Lord of the Dark to bring chaos and destruction to Paris. Although they both constantly tease each other, they are aware that only their combined forces of creation and destruction can confront evil. Therefore, even though they are not fond of each other at first, they eventually decide to cooperate, and over time their friendship turns into a deeply hidden feeling of mutual fascination.
This particular storyline of the popular animated series was decided by producers from three countries to bring it to the big screen: France, Japan and the United States, entrusting Jeremy Zag to direct.
“Ladybug and Cat Noir” – a Parisian Tale of Love
The cinematic “Miraculum” does not deviate much from the serialized original, and of course very well, since the animation is aimed primarily at loyal fans of the series. Every viewer is sure to enjoy the beautiful graphics, witty dialogues and situations and interestingly developed characters. Of particular note is the meticulously recreated scenery of Paris – especially the nighttime shots of the city’s iconic topography, such as the Eiffel Tower, the romantic boulevards along the Seine River and Notre-Dame Cathedral. In the daytime scenes, we clearly recognize the Champs-Élysées with the Arc de Triomphe, the Louvre or the Tuileries Garden. Thus, “Miraculous” joined the ranks of films with the theme of the beautiful French capital, which was also eagerly chosen as the place of action in the case of children’s animations, such as in the touching “Ratatouille”.
The only drawback of the production, for me, is the somewhat overly elaborate musical layer. The vocal parts performed by the various characters are quite numerous, although not devoid of wit and visual effects. Personally, I would have preferred to sacrifice them in favor of more elaborate action. Perhaps the filmmakers were concerned that too many adventurous episodes might disrupt the coherence of the overall story, but I think unnecessarily and that viewers would have loved to see some more of the original monster on screen.
The story of the title characters Ladybug and Cat Noir itself is very readable and complementary on many levels. It is at the same time a story of teenagers facing the hardships of adolescence and the search for their own place in the peer group, as well as a subtle portrayal of first youthful love. The latter theme came off by far the best in my opinion: extremely funny, yet wise and mature. But, after all, this is Paris, the capital of love, where the heart is raring to go on a romantic adventure on its own, and the environment releases the deepest layers of feeling. Most importantly, however, love also has a broader, humanistic dimension in the cinematic “Miraculous”. For as the main message of the film can be read, as long as love triumphs over fear in our hearts, we are capable of saving ourselves, our loved ones and the whole world.
