REVIEW: Disenchanted Not as Enchanting as Original
When their lives in New York City become less like a fairytale, Giselle (Amy Adams), Robert (Patrick Dempsey), Morgan (Gabriella Baldacchino), and little Sofia head off to the suburbs to find their new happy ending. Landing in the town of Monroeville, Giselle is determined to make this their new fairytale home. Other members of their family aren’t exactly sold, Morgan loved her life in the city and Robert’s now tasked with a soul-suckingly long commute. Mix in a self-described “Queen of Monroeville” Malvina (Maya Rudolph) and her minions, Rosaleen (Yvette Nicole Brown) and Ruby (Jayma Mays), Giselle finds the happy ending she envisioned slipping away. When tensions mount between Giselle and Morgan, Giselle makes a wish that ends up having consequences for not only herself, but her entire family.
With any sequel it is hard to recreate the charm of the original and this sequel to 2007’s Enchanted, is no different. Perhaps it’s the lack of James Marsden’s Prince Edward’s over-the-top persona in this film that provided a handful of laughs in the first movie. Or it could be the song breakouts that lacked the joy and resounding question of “What is going on” as seen in this first film. Whatever specifically it is, fans will likely find Disenchanted lackluster.
This new addition discovers it is hard to capitalize on the campy feel from the first movie and doesn’t spend nearly enough time on the characters. The story had a solid outline that was never fully fleshed out. It was extremely predictable and the characters that stood out in the first film, like Robert (Dempsey) take a back seat in this one.
Alan Menken and Stephen Schwartz returned to compose the songs for the sequel and while there seemed to be a higher volume of songs in this film compared to the original, the quality of these new songs was lacking. There wasn’t a true showstopper number which Enchanted clearly had. Enchanted’s “That’s How You Know”, imprinted into people’s minds the second it began playing. From the flashy costumes to the use of New York City, it was a truly memorable number. Disenchanted did not have that.
There was one song that was pretty fun, “Badder”, performed by Amy Adams (Giselle) and Maya Rudolph (Malvina Monroe). The duo is quite entertaining in their back and forth number where each is trying to prove they are the more bad of the two. This will likely be the one song you remember when all is said and done.
There are some positive notes from the movie. The costumes, once again, are beautiful and look as if they really did step out of a fairytale. This is especially notable towards the end of the movie when Giselle and Malvina battle it out. Robert’s daughter Morgan (Baldacchino) has more of a role this time, even though the teen angst and evil stepmother bit was almost too predictable. Idina Menzel is finally allowed to sing not one, but two songs in the movie, and tackles both with her incomparable talent.
Adams steps back into the role of Giselle with ease and grace. This time she is navigating Giselle’s naïve personality and her newly added wicked side. There is one particular scene where she is internally and externally battling between her two sides and it’s a testament to Adams’ talent with how easily she handles it. Rudolph joins the cast as the “Queen of Monroeville”, Malvina. Her character was one that suffered from a lack of back story and ends up being pushed to the side as the film progresses. Baldacchino stepped into the role of teenage Morgan and does well with what she was tasked with.
Disenchanted may not be its predecessor but it is not a terrible movie. It is definitely a movie younger children will enjoy while older audiences may find it hard to stay tuned in. If you were a big fan of the first movie this sequel may not be as big of a hit with you. Thankfully, the movie is streaming on Disney+, so subscribers can check it out whenever they want.
Grade: B-