The Legend of Chupacabras

source: The Legend of Chupacabras

UFFF, this movie is bad. I hold this saga in a very special place in my heart but surprisingly I didnt watch this movie when it came out, I just had other stuff to do. But I recently went on a marathon watching all the movies from this saga and it was my first time watching this. I had a lot of hopes, knowing it was the previous one before the big finale, having a decent terrifying monster, I was even glad I was just going to watch the characters I love in another fun adventure. My hopes were completly destroyed after watching this. From the start the movie feels weird, now mixing the War of Independence with the story, it was something unnecessarily that added nothing to the plot. And now instead of having our usual team of ghosts and alebrijes with Leo solving the problem with the monster, new characters whose names I have already forgotten come in and stick around for the rest of the movie. The monster is barely in the movie, it gets sidelined with the new side characters talking about the war and stuff, and when the monster is finally in the story, he barely does anything besides killing some Spanish soldiers we dont care about. And the old friends of Leo? They get trapped by an animal that has nothing to do with the story and they all do absolutely nothing. They try to make the characters fight but it happens so random that I was just laughing. In the 3rd movie the 2 plots didnt had nothing to do with one another but at least one of them was good or entertaining, here, both are bad and boring. The jokes are once again a problem; the 3rd one was a downgrade from the first 2 but you could still have fun, But in this one, I dont remember a single time I laughed or smiled for something that had happened. A big let down.

I sat down and started watching this movie, enjoying it at first though slightly confused. It offered a great mix of animation styles and was visually enticing. But I also felt like I was missing something. It turns out I was. LEGEND OF THE CHUPACABRAS is apparently the fourth film in a series about a young boy named Leo San Juan. This film opens after they have left a battle, shows them captured early on and then imprisoned to be hanged the following day. All of this within the first 10-15 minutes of the movie! If you come in not knowing the rest of the story, well you'll soon sit confused and wondering how these people know one another, why they trust one another and why they are suddenly being attacked by this mystical creature. If that wasn't confusing enough consider that the movie takes place during Mexico's fight for independence from Spain and yet the appearance of a fairy talking about cars and using a cell phone is on hand. Then we're whisked away to two dragons talking to one another, the first trying to help the second score a date with his sister. Then back to the past. Whiplash! In all honesty I can't recommend this movie on its own merits. While it looks gorgeous and well-made coming into the story late in the game makes it difficult to watch at best. If I had perhaps seen the previous three installments it would make a major difference. Checking the writer's name on IMDb showed me that there were several other films so I could look for them if I wanted to enjoy the entire series. If you intend to purchase this DVD I would suggest that you purchase the rest as well. My guess is that it would make an interesting series when viewed together. Perhaps not for the smallest or easily frightened child but others might enjoy it.

Good movie!

La Leyenda del Chupacabras