Disenchanted

2007's Enchanted is mainly remembered today for helping Amy Adams launch her career out of independent films and into the mainstream, but it really was a bold little movie for Disney.  It dared to examine and poke fun at many of the Princess cliches that the studio had invested so much time in, and had a lot of fun nods, including live action cameos from many of the women who had voiced the characters in the past.  It was a tribute with satirical bite, and quite a lot of fun.

All of this makes the 15-year-later follow up that just hit streaming, Disenchanted, all the more perplexing, as it doesn't seem to want to push any buttons or make any commentary.  It's simply an overly energized film that seems to be trying too hard to win over audiences, both with nostalgia and with some high concept ideas that it can't be bothered to fully explore.  It's the kind of corporate cash grab that has a lot of bright colors and spirited songs that leave your head the second they're done, all the while forgetting that the original had something on its mind to go along with the colors and songs.  Enchanted could be enjoyed by just about anyone.  This sequel is likely to be enjoyed the most by the youngest audience members, or those who grew up on the first, and are desperate to see these characters again.

Here once again is Giselle (Amy Adams), the cartoon Princess who found her way into the real world, and eventually fell in love with the divorce lawyer Robert (Patrick Dempsey) and his young daughter Morgan (Gabriella Baldacchino, stepping in for Rachel Covey from the original), who is now a teenager, and in typical fashion, is moody and sullen and embarrassed when her stepmother breaks into random Princess show tunes on a whim.  Giselle and Robert have added a baby to their family (twins Mila and Lara Jackson), and feel that life in New York City is not the ideal place to raise children.  So, they head to a suburb known as Monrovia, against Morgan's wishes, and move into a "fixer upper" home that needs a lot of work, leading to a lot of "house falling apart" gags that are borrowed from the 1986 Tom Hanks comedy, The Money Pit.  

No one is happy with their new life, however.  Morgan doesn't fit in with the other kids, Robert has to get used to commuting to work on a train, and Giselle quickly finds herself running afoul of a trio of overly perfect moms who come across as a PG-rated take on the villains from Bad Moms.  So, when the royal couple of Edward (James Marsden) and Nancy (Idina Menzel) pay a visit from Giselle's magical fantasy world, and gift her a magic wand as a housewarming gift, Giselle decides to use its power to turn Monrovia into a fairy tale like kingdom similar to her home.  This causes the local "Mean Mom" Malvina (Maya Rudolph) to be transformed into an Evil Queen who rules over the kingdom with an iron fist.  Not only that, but the wish effects Giselle's own family.  Morgan slowly turns into a downtrodden Cinderella, while Giselle herself begins to show evil tendencies against her control, and is slowly becoming a stereotypical evil stepmother.  

Making Adams' cheerfully perky character have to confront a hidden evil side that is slowly starting to come out is a great idea, but Disenchanted doesn't know how to handle this idea successfully, and instead gives us two underwritten roles for Adams to try to make due with.  She's more than up to the challenge, obviously, but because the script never truly takes advantage of the idea, it sells all of her efforts short.  Most of the returning cast are given little to do here, save for a few moments, such as when Menzel gets the film's best song titled "Love Power", or when Rudolph is in total "Evil Queen" mode, and seems to be having the most fun of all the actors here.  Other characters that could have been useful, such as Marsden's goofy prince, are too often pushed aside when the movie could have needed their energy.

There's just a curious disconnect between the first film and this, and many of the problems I think stem from the fact that despite many of the original cast coming back, many of the creative talent except for the songwriters are new here.  They're clearly trying to make a more traditional fairy tale comedy here, while the first was much more of a satirical tribute that gleefully poked fun at the cliches that it was acknowledging.  This one revels in those cliches, and seems much more disappointing because of it.  The energy is there, and though it appears in smaller doses than before, the fun is still present.  But it's just not as smart or as witty.  This movie wants to strike its own path, and while I usually admire it, the path it takes just doesn't seem as ambitious or charming.

Disenchanted winds up living up to its title in a way that was not intended by emphasizing spectacle over brains.  This sequel was apparently hard to crack, and there were various script attempts over the past decade or so.  The end result proves they maybe needed another few years or so, or perhaps a different direction.

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