Geek Review: Disenchanted

There’s a kind of wonder and charm that comes with fairy tales, and no one has popularised and invested in them as much as Disney, as its slate of classic animated titles have shown over the decades. Imbued with optimism and underdog triumph, these stories live out a hope-filled fantasy that the real world can hardly ever measure up to. 

When it was released in 2007, Enchanted demonstrated the enduring appeal of the genre and even managed to bring both worlds together – quite literally at that, by merging the animated world with live action, and injecting some cynicism into happily ever after, though not that much. The movie is the first feature-length Disney live-action/traditional animation hybrid since 1988’s Who Framed Roger Rabbit, and injected a welcome fresh breath of air into a saturated landscape. 

It’s no wonder then that Disenchanted, the highly-anticipated sequel to the movie, honours the same storytelling format, shuttling the viewer between the realm of animation and live-action. The result is a nostalgic trip down the memory lane that while has its highs, lacks a lot of the magic that its predecessor delivered, making it difficult to justify its return after 15 long years. 

Set years after the events of the original, the follow-up transports Giselle (Amy Adams) and her family – husband Robert (Patrick Dempsey), eldest child Morgan (Gabriella Baldacchino), and baby daughter Sofia – to the suburb of Monroeville. Gone is the bustle and hustle of New York City, replaced by more pockets of greenery, rural aesthetics, and new faces around the neighbourhood. 

The relocation is part of Giselle’s desire to pursue a new “happily ever after,” following her disillusionment with life in New York. Morgan, now a teenager, is often at odds with her mom even when the latter tries her best to be an accommodating parent; both Robert and Giselle aren’t truly happy, either. Hoping to recapture the feeling of happiness, Giselle decides to uproot and move to the picturesque town that seems more akin to the world she grew up in. 

But as the saying goes, be careful what you wish for. This induction into a new community soon presents a danger – one that not only throws Andalsia and the real world off-balance, but sees Giselle at the heart of it all. As revealed in the trailer, she has now become the big bad, taking the form of the evil stepmother. 

To Disney’s credit, the direction shows a willingness to not simply explore the same beat as Enchanted. In a way, Disenchanted serves as an antithesis to its predecessor with its notion of a ‘happy never after’ and a two-villain structure. Adams also does a great job at slipping into both roles, particularly during scenes where she has to transition from one to the other almost immediately (much like the Smeagol / Gollum persona switch in Lord of the Rings). 

The dual-role element brings an interesting contrast to the straightforward black-and-white morality of the first movie’s fairytale rhetoric. Here, Giselle even admits that being the villain feels liberating, which introduces a layer of depth into her overly-nice, pleasing personality that has been carried over from Enchanted. 

The other antagonist is Malvina Monroe, whom Maya Rudolph takes to with impressive skill. Like the evil queens of stories, she’s a master at giving drop-dead looks, sneering at her opponents, ordering her minions around, and speaking in a haughty, snobbish tone. 

The execution is, however, let down by a smorgasbord of ideas that don’t seem to go anywhere, which is a pity. Disenchanted starts off well, conveying a sense of fun and universal thematic relevance through humour, domestic scenes, and family drama. Newcomer Baldacchino puts up a convincing performance as a teenager who’s exasperated by Giselle’s unintentional protectiveness, spouting off witty liners and teen lingo. 

This strained mother-daughter relationship is what forms the bulk of Giselle’s concerns, which is further exacerbated by the issues that come with moving into an long-inhabited house, such as faulty kitchen appliances and the lack of fire-proofing technology.

As the movie progresses, the narrative threads start to get tangled. Everyone has something to do here, resulting in multiple underdeveloped subplots and a bloated story. It doesn’t help that Disenchanted’s format – unintentionally or otherwise – takes away some of the originally playful tone, causing the characters to become the stereotypes that its predecessor satirised. Malvina, despite Rudolph’s great performance, is a shallow character, with no purpose or a backstory driving her villainy. 

Jokes and references to both Enchanted and classic fairy tales that were funny at the start either fell flat over time or became so overused that they lost their charm. Where the first movie carefully weaved nods into its narrative, the ones in the sequel feel more try-hard and forced, especially in the third act that not only presents one cliche trope after another, but also crams an excessive amount of homages.

The song-singing sequences aren’t particularly memorable, either. Disenchanted is more musical-like than the first movie, but its soundtracks are fairly middling for the most part, which is kind of strange considering how Enchanted’s Alan Menken and Stephen Schwarzt have returned to score here. 

Make no mistake: the songs are enjoyable, and the cast members – particularly Idina Menzel, who reprises her role as Nancy – continue to be great singers. However, they aren’t anything to write home about, with the antagonist sing-off being the only highlight. Titled “Badder”, the performance involves a dueling duet between Adams and Ruldoph, and is the closest that can come close to matching the joy of the first film. 

Not everything has lost its magic, though. For all of its faults, Disenchanted does have its moments of greatness, starting with the return of James Marsden’s Prince Edward. Despite being criminally underused, the character continues to charm on-screen with his affable, comedic personality, while Nancy’s appearance is a welcome sight. Dempsey also gets to enjoy some fairy tale hero fun here.

Like Enchanted, the movie goes full out on costume and set design. Giselle and Malvina’s dresses are perhaps the most beautifully-designed, but the wardrobes of the other characters are still a delight for eyes to feast on. 

As Giselle says in the movie, “Memory is the strongest wonderful magic of them all,” and it holds a certain truth here. Fans who see the world of Disenchanted through nostalgia-tinted glasses would find it to be an enjoyable catch-up session with a familiar cast, complete with some easter egg hunting fun. Look beyond that, though, and the cracks lying beneath a shiny facade are prominent, taking out the joy and charm that the first movie had so much of.

Disenchanted is now streaming on Disney+.