Directed By: Adam Shankman
Starring: Amy Adams, Maya Rudolph, Gabriella Baldacchino, Idina Menzel, Alan Tudyk, James Marsden, Patrick Dempsey
Plot Summary: It has been more than ten years since Giselle and Robert wed, but Giselle has grown disillusioned with life in the city, so they move their growing family to the sleepy suburban community of Monroeville in search of a more fairytale life. Unfortunately, it is not the quick fix she had hoped for. Suburbia has a whole new set of rules and a local queen bee, Malvina Monroe, who makes Giselle feel more out of place than ever. Frustrated that her happily ever after has not been so easy to find, she turns to the magic of Andalasia for help, accidentally transforming the entire town into a real-life fairytale and placing her family’s future happiness in jeopardy. Now, Giselle is in a race against time to reverse the spell and determine what happily ever after truly means to her and her family.
The original Enchanted was a sizable hit when it was released in 2007, earning over $300 million at the box office on a not-inexpensive $85 million budget. While Disney has been doing live-action remakes of their animated films since the ‘90s, this helped pave the way for more remakes like Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland and later 2015’s Cinderella. In the 15 years since Enchanted, not only has Disney changed a lot, but so has the entire face of cinema. As Disney returns to the well with the much-anticipated sequel Disenchanted, it is natural to be concerned about how it would work within this new landscape. Extremely well, it turns out.
Disenchanted utilizes everything that works well with the previous film including the amazing cast, fantastic musical numbers, and its ability to be both a clever love letter to and subversion of classic Disney IP. With this next chapter comes a major overhaul of certain elements that were lacking in the original film. The diversity within the ensemble is a huge breath of fresh air that really adds so much to the journey. Since the first film did such an amazing job of building a rich world, the sequel is never saddled with doing this heavy lifting outside of some necessary introductions to the new characters.
Rather than just a remaking Enchanted and hitting the same beats, this story truly feels like the next logical step. Director Adam Shankman and screenwriter Brigitte Hales explore what happens long after the fairytale ending of “and they lived happily ever after.” This is a compelling jumping off point, and Shankman milks that premise for all its worth. Like its namesake, Disenchanted takes a slightly more cynical viewpoint, but tonally never strays far from the joy and Disney magic of the movies its paying tribute to. The attention to detail is amazing, and you can always tell there is great care put into each scene. For fans of the house that Mickey built, you will find a ton of Easter eggs littered throughout.
From a technical standpoint, this movie is a marvelous achievement. From its lush costumes, production design and art direction, Disenchanted feels like a living, breathing, spellbinding world. As good as Enchanted was in these departments, this outshines its predecessor. While Enchanted had some lovely musical numbers, this aspect is fleshed out even further in the follow-up. The legendary eight-time Oscar winning legend Alan Menken spins gold here, and fans get nothing less than top-tier music and lyrics.
All of this works in the movies favor, yet it needs a stellar cast to glue it altogether. Thankfully, this movie is filled to the brim with talent. Amy Adams brings the same sweet nature to Giselle, yet the script allows her to show more range and depth. James Marsden, Patrick Dempsey and Idina Menzel also return, and they do do not miss a beat in the process.
The big new addition is the legendary comedian Maya Rudolph, who is clearly having a wicked good time playing a delightfully sinister Disney villain. She is inspired casting and really plays off her co-stars wonderfully. She can take simple lines like, “I weave” deliver them with wit and absurd flavor, without every going hammy. Even in full Maleficent drag, she never goes overboard with her performance. She is not the only great new addition, as Gabriella Baldacchino lights up the screen with her acting, singing and dancing, and she does so in a way that will no doubt launch her into super stardom. Additional welcome faces to this world include Yvette Nicole Brown, Jayma Mays, Alan Tudyk and Kolton Stewart, just to name a few.
The movie is not without some minor issues. Patrick Dempsey’s character, Robert, is given a weird side quest that really doesn’t move the main plot forward. In a film that is so considerate of its narrative, this thread feels very much like an afterthought, almost as if it was tacked on to give him something to do within the story. There are also some awkward interactions between Ruby and Giselle. It feels like these characters are only just meeting, and not people that have been together for over a decade. We get the expected annoying teenager trope, which has a baked in character arc of learning not to be bratty. Relative to the overall strength of the film, these are minor issues and nothing that detracts from the overall enjoyment.
Disenchanted is that rare sequel which may just be better than the original. Here we get characters with more depth, more representation, higher stakes and more polished worldbuilding. It really finds new and exciting ways to further the story, whilst also keeping what made the first film such an instant classic.
Disenchanted is currently available to stream on Disney+.
Disenchanted is that rare sequel which may just be better than the original.
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GVN Rating 9
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User Ratings (1 Votes)
7.6
Big film nerd and TCM Obsessed. Author of The Ultimate Guide to Strange Cinema from Schiffer Publishing. Resume includes: AMC’s The Bite, Scream Magazine etc. Love all kinds of movies and television and have interviewed a wide range of actors, writers, producers and directors. I currently am a regular co-host on the podcast The Humanoids from the Deep Dive and have a second book in the works from Bear Manor.