Disenchanted might not be as charming or memorable as Enchanted, but it’s a heck ton of fun and especially worthwhile if you’re a massive Disney fan.
Overall Score: 7/10
Image: Disney+
Did we really need a sequel to 2007’s Enchanted? Well, Disney certainly thought so, and last week saw the release of Disenchanted. Depending on how you look at it, that’s either a clever or apt title to give the film. Why? Simply because you’ll either love the idea of turning the world of Enchanted on its head or you’ll walk away feeling disillusioned with it.
In all honesty, I did not care for the trailers that Disney put out for Disenchanted and I think that they did a terrible job of marketing the film. On top of that, the general consensus among critics and audiences alike has been overwhelmingly negative. So I think that you can probably imagine the kind of impression I had already developed without actually having seen the movie.
Oh, how foolish and wrong I was. I’m just going to go ahead and put it out there: I think that Disenchanted is good! I mean, to be fair, it’s nowhere near as great or memorable as the first film, but I think that it’s very entertaining and that it’s at least worth a watch.
So, what’s the story? Basically, Giselle becomes unhappy with her life, uses magic to change it, and accidentally turns the town she’s living in into a real-life fairy tale. I know, I know, that all sounds pretty mediocre (and admittedly it is), but the cast makes the most of what they have to work with and in doing so they help elevate the movie to the point of being fun and somewhat engaging.
Let’s start with Amy Adams who once again does a fantastic job of playing Giselle. It’s been 15 years and it’s amazing to see how she’s able to just jump back into the character and embody her perfectly — it’s as if she never left the role in the first place! But to spice things up this time around, the script requires Adams to perform dual roles in a manner that I’d say is similar to that of Willem Dafoe’s double portrayals of Norman Osborn and Green Goblin in Spider-Man. “Whoa,” you might say, “that’s a pretty bold statement to make.” Look, I hear you, but I stand by what I just said. To convincingly capture Giselle’s two opposing alternate personalities and the frequent shifts between them requires lots of skill and significant range, and through her work in the film, it’s clear that Adams goes above and beyond and I think that she easily shows us that she’s more than capable of carrying out such a demanding task.
The rest of the cast consists of a mix of returning faces and a few newcomers. Sadly, Patrick Dempsey and James Marsden are mostly sidelined throughout the movie, but at least they’re fun and hilarious when they’re on-screen. Idina Menzel, meanwhile, is given more time to shine in her role as Nancy. The fact that she was given a non-singing role in Enchanted always struck me as odd, so it’s especially great to see that the filmmakers and songwriters finally decided to utilize her vocal talents. As for the new additions to the cast, Gabriella Baldacchino does a decent job of playing a teenage version of Morgan and Maya Rudolph is just lots of fun to watch as Malvina Monroe — seriously, she steals every scene that she’s in.
Speaking of fun, if you’re a massive Disney fan like I am, you’ll certainly have a blast trying to keep track of all the different easter eggs featured in this film. Keep your eyes peeled for the multiple subtle (and not-so-subtle) callbacks to Disney’s classic movies — which come in the forms of verbal/lyrical and musical references, visuals, and straight-up re-enactments of iconic scenes.
But alas, while I do like Disenchanted, I have to admit that it does suffer from several issues. First of all, this is not Adam Shankman’s best work. I’ve seen A Walk to Remember, so I know that he can deliver serious dramas. And I’ve seen Hairspray, so I definitely know just how good he can be when it comes to crafting musicals. Now, what these two films have in common is that they both have a cinematic element or feel to them, and that’s something that Disenchanted seems to lack. To be fair, Enchanted itself is pretty weird and fantastical in nature, but at least it feels like a proper movie. Disenchanted, on the other hand, is far too theatrical for its own good. The acting’s a tad bit too hammy overall and the musical sequences look like something you’d see while watching a typical Broadway production. Essentially, all of this is to say that I don’t think that Shankman does a particularly good job of directing this film.
Secondly, I take issue with the quality of Disenchanted’s animated scenes. It’s 2022 for crying out loud and the animation here is still somehow laughably bad — even the animation featured in Disney’s often notorious straight-to-DVD sequels puts it to shame. I mean, I get that this all might just be a result of budget constraints, but you have to question why the filmmakers would choose to invest in things like unnecessary and excessive CGI (which looks pretty bad, by the way) instead. Lastly, I think that Disenchanted’s third and final act is rushed and severely uninspired. Everything happens so quickly to the point where it just feels like the movie skips over a bunch of important and organic story beats, and the resolution to the central conflict kind of feels a little underwhelming.
Yet, at the end of the day, I’d say that Disenchanted is a pretty decent film. It certainly didn’t have to be made, nor is it anywhere near as good as its predecessor, but it’s undeniably fun and it’s at least not a repeat of what we’ve gotten before. Whether or not you choose to check it out is entirely up to you (and objectively speaking, it’s totally fine if you don’t), but personally, I don’t regret watching it at all and I would definitely do so again should I feel like it.
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