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15 years after the success of 2007’s Enchanted, Disney has brought us back to Andalasia/New York with Disenchanted, and we have the review for you. While Enchanted was no masterpiece, the idea of an animated Disney princess warped into the real world of modern-day New York was an original idea that one couldn’t help but admire. That, along with Amy Adams’ charming performance and some endearing musical numbers, made for an ultimately entertaining movie. Disenchanted tried to hone in on all those things that made Enchanted so special and unique, but unfortunately, it fails to meet the original movie’s unique charm.
Read on for the full Disnencated review to learn why it is so disenchanting.
‘Disenchanted’ Story- The Damsel and Distress Becomes the Distresser
Giselle (Amy Adams) thought she found her “happily ever after” with Robert (Patrick Dempsey) and Morgan (Gabriella Baldacchino) in New York. But as her wicked would-have-been mother-in-law phrased it in the first film, New York is where there are no happily ever afters. Morgan is now a teen, growing less impressed with the magical world Giselle wants to create for her family. For that reason, Giselle convinces her family to move to Monroeville, where Giselle concludes, solely based on advertising, that her family can have their “fairy tale” life. However, when things don’t go perfectly and when Morgan tells Giselle that she will always be the stepmother, she makes a wish on an Andalasian wishing wand that their new home can be a fairy tale life.
Giselle’s wish comes true, and Monroeville is turned into the fairy tale land of Monrolasia. Everything seems perfect until she starts to develop a mean-spirited attitude toward Morgan. Giselle quickly understands that she is turning into the wicked stepmother found in all fairy tales. Giselle is caught between two personalities, and the magic of Andalasia is powering her wish. Once the clock strikes midnight, Giselle will permanently become the wicked stepmother, and Andalasia will exhaust all of its power and be no more. She sends Morgan through a portal to Andalasia to figure out how to reverse the spell and save both worlds.
‘Disenchanted’ Review- A Disney Original That Should Have Stayed Original
The best thing we can say in this review is that Disenchanted shows its moments of potential. Amy Adams, as always, does a great job showcasing her talents. While Giselle’s bizarre changes in character are a bit all over the place, Adams effectively portrays both the naive princess and the wicked stepmother. The movie also does an excellent job with its set design. There are points where a viewer may forget, for a moment, that they are no longer seeing Andalasia but Monrolasia. That kind of transition from animation to live-action is hard to pull off, and the creative team behind this film deserves recognition for that work.
Unfortunately, one good performance and impressive set design do not make for an endearing film, especially one that is 30 minutes too long.
Amy Adams is the only member of this cast who offers up an impressive performance, and in a film that features the likes of James Marsden and Idina Menzel (Elphaba, for crying out loud), that is nothing to be proud of. Dempsey, possibly recovering from the stress of playing McDreamy, is so one-dimensional that you forget he is there. Marsden doesn’t get enough screen time. And while Gabriella Baldacchino probably gave it all she could as a teenage Morgan, she didn’t do much to stand out. We also see Maya Rudolph, as the head of the town council, turned into an evil queen, with Yvette Nicole Brown and Jayma Mays as her minions. But the sad news for these talented comedic actresses is that their characters may be the least interesting in the film, and the movie wastes their talents.
The biggest mistake Disney makes with Disenchanted is the story. Giselle’s random switches from good to evil are so random that it’s hard to find them compelling. It’s also somewhat bizarre that she has to become a semi-villain just because she is a stepmother. While this is a drawback to old fairy tale tropes, it still feels like a weird stereotype. We also get musical numbers that aren’t anywhere near as memorable as “Happy Working Song” and “That’s How You Know,” both of which were Oscar-nominated songs. Those songs were memorable for being catchy, quirky, and out of place from a Disney princess in the real world of New York. Here the music is in your face and nowhere near as entertaining. Idina Menzel displays her fabulous vocal chops in one musical number, but even that song isn’t all that memorable in and of itself.
And to wrap up, the animated sequences move so slowly that they feel like cheap 80’s animation. That may be the point, but it seems like we’ve come much further than that in recent years.
‘Disenchanted’ Verdict- A Disenchanting Sequel
While the idea of life after “happily ever after” is interesting to explore, we already got that with other stories, such as the musical Into the Woods, which has a Disney adaptation that is much more entertaining than this. Enchanted was special for being an original idea, which people were desperate for in the late 2000s when it was released. Nobody was asking for a sequel to that idea, and Disney really jumped the shark when they decided to make Disenchanted.
With weak performances, a poorly written story, cheap animation, and musical numbers that in no way match the memorability and catchiness of the original film’s numbers, Disney really made a mess with Disenchanted. Will young kids enjoy it? That is hard to say. But as our review of Disenchanted suggests, our happily ever after came when the movie ended.
Do you think we are wicked for this review of Disney’s Disenchanted? Did you enjoy this sequel? Share your thoughts in the comments.
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