Review of The Emperor's New Groove (2000) by Jessica B — 27 Sep 2013

I honestly believe this is the first film of Disney's that focused on a villain. Not just a jerk; a villain. Think about it. In any other movie, Pacha would have been the focus (the happy-go-lucky farm boy and family man), and Kuzco is the evil emperor out to destroy his way of life.

If this was a totally generic movie, then it would have been about Pacha trying to foil Kuzco's evil plans, but it's not. I mean, just look at Kuzco's character: he's manipulative, he's selfish, he's vain.

For crying out loud in the first ten minutes Kuzco says he's going to destroy an ENTIRE VILLAGE just for his pleasure AND he actively admits that he'd be glad to have Pacha (the only person who has tried to help him) rot away in a dungeon for eternity or fall to his death.

How many VILLAINS have tried to do that in an entire movie? And it does succumb to the cliché of The Transformation. Where the guy who was a jerk in the beginning turns into a good guy in the end, but at least there were worse clichés people could have gone with when making this thing.

And you know what? The voices aren't bad! David Spade is the only person I could see in this role (the design of the character Kuzco matches him perfectly) and the same could be said for Pacha and John Goodman.

Eartha Kitt and Patrick Warburton are just flawless together; whenever they're on the screen I'm laughing. Yes it's not a traditional Disney movie, but at least it isn't terrible. It's not exactly the magic of Disney, but it's good for a rainy day viewing! You'll laugh one way or another when watching it at least.

The worst thing that this could have been was a bore. Predictable yes, but not a bore. That at least says something.