Disenchanted review

DISENCHANTED: 

A CHARMING ALBEIT FAMILIAR REUNION WITH GISELLE AND FRIENDS! 

By Nico Beland

Movie Review: *** out of 4

DISNEY+

Amy Adams returns as Giselle in Disenchanted

 

            Amy Adams (The Fighter, American Hustle, Arrival) is back as the fair maiden turned modern-day stepmother Giselle in Disenchanted, the highly anticipated follow-up to Disney’s 2007 musical-comedy, Enchanted. I really enjoyed the first film and thought it was a very funny and clever satire of classic fairy tale and Disney movie clichés with enjoyable songs and musical numbers, the blending of live-action and animation in a unique way, charming characters, and Amy Adams’ star-making performance as Giselle. 

            Upon revisiting Enchanted in preparation for this review, I can say that the first film really was ahead of its time. Granted, there have been plenty of times where other studios took jabs at Disney and their tropes (Most notably with DreamWorks’ Shrek), but you never saw Disney themselves make fun of their own material or do twists on the fairy tale story that much back then. 

            Enchanted satirized popular Disney tropes like the “Marrying a man you just met” cliché, how characters randomly break into song, and even switches up the damsel in distress roles during the film’s climax among too many others to count. You could make the argument the first Enchanted helped pave the way for other modern Disney classics such as The Princess and the Frog, Tangled, and the Frozen franchise. 

            Now we have this sequel released 15 years after the first film with most of the original cast returning and Adam Shankman (Hairspray (2007), Rock of Ages, What Men Want) replacing Kevin Lima as director. I was looking forward to this movie because of all the possibilities a sequel to Enchanted could potentially go like maybe a mostly animated film where the live-action characters travel to the world of Andalasia as a reversal of the first film’s plot or a more Down to Earth movie revolving around Giselle and Patrick Dempsey’s character’s family life. 

            So, I eagerly put the sequel up on Disney+ with great anticipation and…it’s fine! Disenchanted isn’t exactly a complete retread of its predecessor, but it constantly feels like it’s trying to replicate the same magic and hit a lot of the same beats as it. 

            The film is set ten years after the first film and follows Giselle (Adams), her husband Robert (Patrick Dempsey-Grey’s Anatomy, Transformers: Dark of the Moon, Bridget Jones’s Baby), now teenage daughter/stepdaughter Morgan (Gabriella Baldacchino replacing Rachel Covey), and newborn baby Sofia moving out of the streets of Manhattan and into the suburban neighborhood of Monroeville. Upon getting there, Giselle realizes it isn’t exactly the quick fix she hoped for and with the commanding presence of Malvina Monroe (Maya Rudolph-Bridesmaids, Big Hero 6, The Mitchells VS the Machines) in-charge, Giselle feels more out of place than ever. 

            This results in Giselle wishing for that fairy tale lifestyle she originally left behind in favor of Robert with a magic wand. The problem with that is she accidentally turns the town into a real-life fairy tale and that her wish is draining all the magic from the animated world of Andalasia. 

            It’s up to Morgan, Giselle’s chipmunk friend Pip (voiced by Griffin Newman-The Tick, Masters of the Universe: Revelation, The George Lucas Talk Show), and their Andalasian friends King Edward (James Marsden-X-Menfranchise, Hop, Sonic the Hedgehog 1 and 2) and Queen Nancy (Idina Menzel-Frozen 1 and 2, Uncut Gems, Cinderella(2021)) to find a way to undo Giselle’s wish and save both the real world and Andalasia before the stroke of twelve (Because of course!). 

            The film also stars Yvette Nicole Brown (Community, The Office, DC Super Hero Girls) as Rosaleen, Jayma Mays (Heroes, Glee, The Smurfs 1 and 2) as Ruby, Oscar Nunez (The Office, The Proposal, The Lost City) as Edgar, and Alan Tudyk (Wreck-It Ralph, Frozen, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story) as the voice of the talking scroll. 

            Overall, Disenchanted doesn’t quite have the same magic or wit as its predecessor, but it has enough charm and laughs to make it worth checking out. The film once again plays with fairy tale and Disney movie tropes (Particularly those from stories like Cinderella) and shows the interesting scenario of what if Giselle transformed into an evil stepmother, which Disenchanted has a ton of fun with. 

            Amy Adams is once again the highlight of the film and is as likable as ever, but this film explores a darker, Disney villain side of Giselle after her accidental wish and both Adams and the film itself is having a ball with this idea. The only person who could rival Adams is Maya Rudolph as this snooty town council head complete with two dim-witted henchwomen (That is the only reference to the 2019 Kim Possible movie, I’m going to make in this review…I promise!) who later becomes an evil queen after Giselle makes her wish, she is wonderful as this scenery-chewing villain who may not be as threatening as Susan Sarandon from the first film, but she brings the laughs as an enjoyable comedic villain especially whenever she’s bossing her lackeys around. 

            Which leads to my favorite song and musical sequence in the entire movie where Giselle is transforming into a wicked stepmother because of her wish and clashes with Maya Rudolph’s character over which one of them is “Badder” (Which is actually the name of the song). 

            While I’m grateful this film isn’t a complete repeat of the events of the first Enchanted, it does hit a lot of similar beats. Scenes where Giselle is trying to spread a little magic to reality, another powerful queen as the villain, and a climax involving a fancy ball, I wouldn’t call it lazy or anything, but it does seem like Disenchanted often banks on people’s nostalgia for its predecessor and feels like a lesser version of that film at times. 

            Disenchanted may not be the continuation fans of Enchanted wanted, but if you enjoyed the first film and want to see where the story leaves off or just looking for a good, wholesome, and inoffensive movie for the family, this ain’t a bad one to stream.