Many teenagers think of their parents as monsters, but in Netflix's new animated film, "I'll Fight For You," they really are monsters. 15-year-old Princess Elian (Rachel Zegler) wants to ride a flying beaked hamster-like vehicle and fly around her parents' kingdom with her friends, but they are the king's consul, Bolinar (John Lithgow), and the queen, Nazara (Jenifer Lewis). Ellesmere (Nicole Kidman) and King Solon (Javier Bardem) make excuses to their courtiers and military generals (Olga Meredith) to keep them out of their sight, inventing that they can't see her directly. But not being able to see the king and queen, their patience begins to weaken, and inevitably, the secrets are revealed when the monsters, like Harry and Megan, escape the palace and the fugitive general and his army try to hunt them down and banish them from the kingdom.
Princess Elion was meant to become Queen of Elion, but that is not what she wants. She wants to restore her parents to human form, and relief comes from two gay oracles who give her advice on how to break the curse and return her parents. That's all it takes for Elian to begin his journey across the kingdom, where his monstrous parents are joined by a body-swapped Borinar and the heroine's cute sidekick, a creature that eats everything, like a kid-friendly version of Katie Price.
Produced by former Pixar boss John Lasseter and with musical numbers by Alan Menken, the film follows the Disney template: young heroine on a mission to save the day, staple sing-along numbers, cute pets. Despite Menken's song detail, there are no catchy tunes here, as is often the case in modern musicals, but the modern subtext of the most poignant stories - a child who ends up in the care of his parents and thereby misses out on a normal childhood - would sound believable to the kids themselves in such a scenario.
Directed by Vicky Jenson (who directed the original 2001 Shrek film), it has some really nice touches -- a giant frog with a pine air freshener in its mouth, a pigeon head in a palace covered in feces -- and the animation is more full-bodied, in the style of a Disney production than Pixar. Ultimately, it's a celebration of family values, and while it may be a little too long, there's enough to keep kids entertained, if not totally engrossed. Search for this movie on the flixhd cc movies website.