Flora and Ulysses Review: I am Ulysses. Born Anew

This is definitely not Disney’s greatest movie, but it is still alright.

What Happens in Flora and Ulysses?

It’s the beginning of summer break and Flora doesn’t have many plans. With her parents separated, there seems to be a dark cloud over her life and all the magic is gone. It isn’t until her neighbour’s vacuum robot runs over a squirrel that she finds her spark again. After reviving her new friend, she names him Ulysses and takes him home. The pair find themselves in the adventure of their lives after discovering that Ulysses is in fact a superhero. Paired with a blind William and her father, they must protect Ulysses from the local animal control.

Who Are The Characters in Flora and Ulysses?

Flora and Ulysses feature the two titular characters: Flora, the human child and cynic, and Ulysses, the squirrel with superpowers after an encounter with a vacuum cleaner. As a ten-year-old, Flora has experienced many hardships in her life, such as the separation of her parents. The only things that keep her going are the comics that her father drew. Although she is a self-proclaimed cynic, she still carries certain hopes and dreams.

Ulysses, on the other hand, was just some normal squirrel until he encountered a vacuum cleaner. After being sucked into it, and with some CPR from Flora, Ulysses gains some superpowers to achieve a certain purpose. 

Flora and Ulysses Review

This is definitely not Disney’s greatest movie, but it is still alright. Disney’s new original is a quick watch at an hour and a half. The characters are decent, and it is still written well. The plot is very lacking, but the base is there. The things I really enjoyed about this movie were the funny moments and the development of the characters. Now because it is a children’s movie, the development isn’t deep or overly complex, but it serves its purpose.

We have 4 main characters, and the writers do a good job of establishing a backstory for each character, outside of William, very early on in the movie. This makes the characters a lot more relatable, even if they don’t fit that mould to begin the movie. The characters aren’t difficult to understand, and I’d even call their development predictable, but this is how the movie should be. It’s not the 17th movie in the MCU, with the audience meant to pick up on the smallest hints and easter eggs. It is meant to be a cute, one-off movie made for children. The development fits the movie, and it keeps things simple.

The plot is not awesome. It feels light, and it stumbles over itself a few times throughout. I think the idea behind the movie was really good, and the points I’m going to make aren’t going to matter to a younger audience whatsoever. It felt really slow, and I think they could have packed at least a few more comedic or emotional scenes into the mix, especially in the beginning. The slow start hurts this movie, simple or not, and it could have picked up the pace a lot sooner. The back half is a lot better, more enjoyable, and the plot flows a lot smoother.

As a pretty big How I Met Your Mother fan, I was thrilled to see Alyson Hannigan in this one. The roles are simple for both Hannigan and Ben Schwartz, but I thought all 4 main actors did a really good job of portraying the environment the writers were going for. 

I have two different opinions on this movie depending on the audience. If you need a new movie to watch as a family, I would definitely check this one out. It will bring a few awes and laughs to your home.