Review: Miraculous World: New York, United Heroez

Overview (Spoilers Below)

Ladybug and Cat Noir’s miraculous tales come stateside when Marinette’s class goes to New York to celebrate French-American friendship week after making a student film with sock puppets about George Washington and Marquis de Lafayette. After Marinette dramatically convinces Adrien’s father to let him attend, we discover the reason he’s making an exception is because he’ll also be in New York, seeking a rare artifact to bring his wife back from the dead. While on the flight over, we’re also introduced to some American supervillains when Techno-Pirate, the supervillain who steals technology attacks their plane. Luckily, the American superheroes are quick to get to the scene, with the United Heroez rushing to the rescue. Uncanny Valley, Majestia, Knight Owl and Sparrow make short work of the super criminal, and get the plane and its passengers to safety. Museum heists, superheroes, and hot dogs: what could be more stereotypically New York? Only a dramatic romantic confession, of course!

Our take

I haven’t been able to get into Ladybug and Cat Noir previously, since the visuals are just a bit uncanny valley in a way I couldn’t put my finger on. Watching the full movie allowed me to pinpoint it: the hair physics (while impressive!) are distracting, and when combined with very slightly mismatched voice to mouth movements, it’s just odd enough to throw me off. That’s a weird nitpick though, so hopefully other viewers can overlook it to enjoy the movie.

But anyways, on to the plot. We’re to assume Ladybug and Cat Noir are unaware of each other’s barely concealed secret identities, which results in some DNAgel-level shenanigans when it comes to Marinette’s crush on Adrien, but with an extra dose of cringe as Marinette keeps denying her feelings and is generally awkward, while Adrien remains oblivious. Adrien’s father, to his credit, manages to put a twist on the “supervillain with a dead wife” trope with a totally not-weird preservation capsule/glass coffin thing for his beloved, presumably to make dramatic speeches in front of while providing an interesting centerpiece for his lush indoor garden. All very cool and normal, like everything in this movie.

We get a few good jokes here and there, like when Plagg expresses how excited he is about “American cheeses”. Similarly, New York is touted as the most romantic city in the world, “after Paris, of course.” There’s also just a touch of culture clash when Knight Owl

The voice cast performs admirably, with Cristina Valenzuela (recently Sheila in Beastars) showing off Ladybug’s classic sweet soprano, but dropping down when needed to awkward up Marrinette. Bryce Papenbrook, for his part, ensures we’re not just hearing a young version of Eren Jaeger by lending a bit more of a range to Cat Noir and Adrien, without any of the gravel needed for grittier roles.

Ultimately, it’s a kid’s superhero movie that doesn’t exactly break new ground, but at least is interesting enough to explore some of the personal costs of powers, and briefly touches on the weight of being part of a superfamily. It’s not my personal favorite by any stretch of the imagination, but it’s at least worth the watch.