Miraculous: Ladybug & Cat Noir, The Movie Parent Guide

Awkward teenager Marinette (Cristina Valenzuela) just wants to get through high school without drawing any attention to herself, despite her extreme clumsiness. But after a chance encounter with a mysterious man, she receives a Miraculous gem, which transforms her into Ladybug, a superhero with the power of creation. While trying to figure out her powers, Ladybug meets Cat Noir (Bryce Papenbrook), who has the power of destruction. They soon discover that their powers are stronger together, so they team up to protect Paris from chaotic events, which seem to be occurring with greater frequency.

I had some vague awareness that the Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug & Cat Noir TV show existed thanks to the fact I work around children, but I had never watched it since my son wasn’t interested. Luckily for me, watching the series is unnecessary as the film stands alone and serves as an origin story for the titular characters. Not so luckily for me, it’s not very good.

Obviously, this production is aimed at young children; not curmudgeonly millennials, so I recognize that my opinions are of limited relevance. But I also get paid for my opinions, so here they are anyway. This film is basically unwatchable for adults. It is badly written, the musical numbers are terrible, and the production quality is low. It’s been a while since I gave the inside of my head a good inspection, so I guess I can thank this movie for 90 minutes of rolling my eyes.

Marinette is an absolutely insufferable character. She’s so uncoordinated that she can’t function at a basic level, which is so frustrating and unrelatable. The whole “really clumsy teen girl” is a tired trope that needs to retire. Girls can have personalities outside of being ungainly! The other characters don’t fare much better, mostly falling into flat stereotypes. Adrien has the personality of white bread and the villain, Hawkmouth (Keith Silverstein), has a motivation that takes a bit of stretching to be believable. The overall plot is fine, if predictable, though the worldbuilding is a bit convoluted for newcomers to the franchise. I did not expect it to be a musical, and boy I sure wish it wasn’t. The songs are bland and forgettable with obvious lyrics that over explain what characters are feeling.

That said, for young fans of the show it is an exciting action flick with some decent messages about the power of love and overcoming fear. It also doesn’t have much negative content outside of some mild superhero violence and a brief shot of an adult character smoking (it is France, after all!). These positives make it an okay choice for young, interested audiences, but this is definitely one that adults will want to sit out. Maybe to have a nap on the couch while the children are distracted. Wouldn’t that be miraculous?