by Jake Bourgeois
After dominating theaters and the box office over the last handful of years, the past year has been largely devoid of superhero stories, with few exceptions. However, Disney+’s latest offering, Flora & Ulysses, has arrived with a new twist on the popular genre.
The film, based on the children’s novel of the same name by Kate DiCamillo, follows Flora, a precocious 10-year-old and self-professed cynic with quite the imagination. She’s going through some adversity as her parents — both writers (mom a romance novelist and dad a struggling comic book creator) — have recently separated. But things start to look up for Flora when she saves a squirrel. She subsequently makes it her pet and names it Ulysses, gradually discovering he has superpowers.
The movie is a delight, and that’s due in no small part to the performance of our young lead Matilda Lawler as Flora. In just her second film role ever — and certainly her biggest — it’s impossible not to root for with her infectious enthusiasm. The casting of Alyson Hannigan and Ben Schwartz in the role of her parents adds a pair of solid, veteran comedic presences in a cast that plays off each other well. The family storyline provides plenty of heart with characters you can’t help but root for.
When it comes to Ulysses, our superhero, if we’ve learned anything from the cinematic adventures of Ant-Man, it’s that plenty of humor can be wrung from a tiny hero. Even a roller skate can be an obstacle worth dramatically avoiding. The action overall is refreshed by the fact that it’s a squirrel performing the actions.
His origin story is a familiar one, as he goes about discovering the extent of its powers throughout the film’s run time. As Flora describes the different paths open for Ulysses to take, the send up of characters in the superhero game for vengeance was perhaps my favorite joke of the bunch. Our hero wouldn’t be complete without a villain. Here that role is filled largely by an over-zealous, slightly bumbling animal control officer (Dani Pudi), though a crazed cat is also thrown in. They are good for a few chuckles and provide the necessary conflict for the film.
While poking fun at the genre, the film also takes advantage of it in cute and clever ways. Since she idolizes her dad and his creations, the heroes are occasional companions made manifest. At times, the screen turns into its own comic book with short pieces of the film being animated.
The crew is joined on their quest by William (Benjamin Evan Ainsworth), the neighbor’s nephew in town for the summer who is suffering from “hysterical blindness.” William serves as a clever play on the Daredevil character, as his attempts to see through his blindness largely have comedic results, rather than heroic ones.
The film also benefits from the comedic contributions of the always welcome Bobby Moynihan as a comic book store owner and Kate Micucci as a waitress traumatized by her run-in from our furry friend.
Though formulaic at its core, Flora & Ulysses provides plenty of charm. laughs, and heart in its breezy 95-minute run time, thanks in large part to its unique twist on the superhero genre and its precocious lead performance. For those looking for a fun way to spend some time with a family film, Disney+’s latest release is more than capable of fitting the bill.
Grade: B+