Admittedly the original animated films were not perfect cinema, but nothing can compare to the cinematic trash that was this film. I cannot comprehend the reason for creating this film, I believe it was a waste of a budget that could’ve been used on a much better film. The film centres around Clawdeen Wolf, the daughter of a human and a werewolf, she enrols at Monster High, a school for famous monsters from various mythologies and cultures, including Draculaura (daughter of Dracula) and Frankie Stein (daughter of Frankenstein’s monster). Throughout the film Clawdeen struggles with finding her true identity as she navigates the world of monsters, balancing her social life, schoolwork, and her family’s expectations.

The themes of Monster High: The Movie revolve around self-discovery, acceptance, friendship, and embracing individuality. The film focuses on the character’s journeys of understanding and accepting who they are, while also learning the importance of personal growth and belonging. The scene where Frankie and Draculaura come and find Clawdeen in the human world is example of this, as it highlights the idea that their friendship the most important thing to them all.

The central theme of the film is about accepting oneself and embracing a personal journey, Clawdeen Wolf struggles with understanding who she truly is, especially considering her complex heritage. She feels torn between her human side and her monster side but by the end of the film, she has learnt that accepting both aspects of herself is key to her personal growth. The use of the theme within the film is a half-baked attempt at the theme of negative racial stereotypes that surround the idea of being biracial. Although it is relevant to the timeframe in which the film is made, Holland’s attempt at successfully fulfilling the genre is ultimately unsuccessful.

Clawdeen’s journey is also about developing confidence in her abilities and learning to trust herself, Despite her challenges, she grows more empowered and confident in who she is, this can be shown in the difference in Clawdeen’s character from the beginning of the film in comparison to the end. At the beginning of the film, Clawdeen is in the human world and is forced to hide her monster qualities to help her fit in.

 Whereas at the end of the film, her differences are accepted with open arms as she becomes unapologetically authentic. This theme encourages younger audiences to find their inner strength and take pride in who they are, despite the external pressures they may face. Although this is empowering for young audiences, particularly younger girls, it is easy to find in many films of the same genre. The lack of narrative individuality further detracts from the beauty of the film as it is so easy to find the same storyline in other films.

Monster High: The Movie uses songs to reinforce the film’s themes of self-acceptance, individuality, empowerment, and friendship. While in the original films, this is a common occurrence, the use of song in the live-action film, unfortunately, falls very short. The song ‘Coming Out of The Dark’ is an example of this. Sadly, everything about this moment in the film is lacklustre. The budget of the film (between $1-5 million) is disappointing but expected when looking at the quality of the film. The CGI where Clawdeen (Miia Harris) walks through the portal to Monster High is an example of this atrocity.

Although the song symbolizes Clawdeen beginning to embrace her werewolf differences the use of the song is incredibly corny, and at times dislikeable, as it creates a feel similar to that of High School Musical, but Monster High: The Movie is not of the same era, and therefore falls short of the message it wished to convey, promoting self-acceptance and self-love. Overall, although the film wanted to put forward a positive representation for the children of today, it ends up being nowhere near as iconic as the original animated Monster High films.