Summary
The Loud House Movie will keep fans happy but won’t bring in any new audiences with its used, episode-like story.
This review of the Netflix film The Loud House Movie does not contain spoilers.
The Loud House has become Nickelodeon’s go-to animated children’s series. It’s won Daytime Emmys and been nominated for several GLAAD awards, giving the network much-needed ratings boost over the last five years. Despite six seasons of 26 episodes each and a spin-off series, the network wanted more, and so an 83-minute musical, The Loud House Movie, was born.
Following the Loud family on a vacation to Scotland to discover their heritage, first-time director Dave Needham’s film exists as a longer episode of the popular animated series. Centered on the middle, only male child, Lincoln (Asher Bishop), the film plays with themes of sibling rivalries, family togetherness, and supporting those closest to you. As family watches go, it serves as a fine way to entertain the kids for an evening.
Though, the film features a few original songs, tuned to a better key and sung by various members of the family, making this technically a musical. There’s no need for it to be one, and it detracts from the sweet, sometimes saccharine, message of familial bonding and limitless love. The musical nature of The Loud House Movie leans into the corporate entity behind the scenes, a disingenuous aspect to a rather positive-leaning film.
The central plot of The Loud House Movie sees Lincoln learn that the family is descended from royalty, with his direct ancestor being the Duke of the town. To outshine his sisters and finally be in the spotlight, he becomes this Duke, helping out the townspeople until he wins their approval. Surrounding him are castles and dragons and the magic of Scotland and the possibility of him being as special as his sisters. Resentment never creeps into this story or this family, though, remaining light and airy up until the end.
Opposing the Louds is the maid of the castle, Morag (Michelle Gomez), a great name for a villain that’s poorly constructed, even for a kids’ program. She simply doesn’t like the Loud family because…they’re loud. She likes her peace and quiet, and to reach that level of peace and quiet, she’ll do anything, such as burning down her hometown. Morag grows to be an odd villain for kids, as she’s someone who, too, remains committed to her family. She just wants to appease the ghosts still living in her ancestral tree, finding the calm that her family has always lacked. She goes from being a nuisance to a full-on menace in the span of twenty or so minutes, further suspending any belief that she would become such a monster to the only place she’s called home.
It can hardly sustain its nearly hour and a half runtime in terms of story, but the family seems to be having fun, so it’s easy to enjoy the ride with them. The voice performances do the job and the colorful, bright animation should sustain children’s eyeballs throughout the runtime, even if the adults in the room aren’t having as much fun. The songs don’t add much to the film’s enjoyment, but it has enough warmth to overpower its corporate tendencies. And what kid wouldn’t want a pet dragon?
What did you think of the Netflix film The Loud House Movie? Comment below.
