Disenchanted, the eagerly anticipated sequel to Enchanted. A princess gets lost in contemporary New York in the 2007 original, which enjoyed experimenting with fairy tales; the sequel appears poised to capture that same energy.
For Disney, the 2007 release of the first movie was a risk that paid off handsomely. With its humour being spot-on and being full of witty references, it manages to tread a narrow line between being a love letter to Disney princess flicks and a pastiche of them. Amy Adams was endearing as Giselle, a doe-eyed damsel in distress who sang to forest critters, created garments out of curtains, and scrubbed floors.
15 years have passed since princess Giselle was exiled to a busy city and forced to navigate clamorous streets and irate city employees in search of her Prince Edward. Instead, she came across swoon-worthy divorce attorney Robert (Patrick Dempsey) and his daughter Morgan.
Giselle and Robert are now married and have a child, and Morgan (played by Gabriella Baldacchino) is a stroppy, cynical adolescent. The couple is relocating to Monroeville, a suburban community, as they have outgrown their city flat.
James Marden and Idina Menzel reprise their roles as Nancy and Edward, who are now happily married and in charge of the fairytale realm Andalasia. It's great that they have some kind of involvement in this film, even while it is fairly limited.
The premise of this film is Giselle wishing for her dream fairytale life and it all going wrong. Instead of being happy, Giselle starts to crave power and become evil. Characters are forced to consider who they are and what they stand for in this made-up world.
Robert must slay dragons, Morgan must find true love, the local queen bee must ascend to the throne, and Giselle must resist the urge to take on the role of an evil stepmother. This is all thanks to some complicated nonsense involving a glowing clock.
A bold attempt is made to get Idina Menzel to perform a song that is similar to Frozen about the power of love. Yet with most of the songs, the lyrics are a bit clumsy and one wonders if they were improvised. They don't have the same charm or catchy lyrics that we remember from the first film. These films are quite forgettable.
One song I did enjoy and grabbed my attention is a duelling duet between Adams and Rudolph. It adds some much-needed sharpness to the film. It was great to see Adams go full evil. Yet, with that being said, at times the two evil Queens gave more of a pantomime performance than I was really expecting. It was quite over the top and it didn’t always work. However, it was still amusing to watch.
Perhaps because Morgan (Gabriella Baldacchino) is the true protagonist of this tale. Thus Dempsey, Menzel, and Marsden (who amazingly has not aged) receive incredibly little screen time. Baldacchino does a good job. It’s great to see who Morgan has grown up into. Her singing was a highlight when she had her own moment.
On a side note, the animation is still strong in this film as it was in the 2007 original. It was great that Chip was brought back again. He is a great character that always brings in some comedic relief when we need it.
Overall, we waited a long time for this sequel. While it succeeds in some aspects, there are some holes in this film. It centres on a stepmother and daughter showing their love for one another. Yet, the songs and dance numbers don’t all have the same charm as they did in the first film. All the cast do really well, but some characters feel a bit more side-lined than others. Disenchanted was pleasant to watch, but I was expecting a bit more.
Performance | 3.8/5 |
Enjoyment | 3.5/5 |
Overall Rating | 3.6/5 |