Review - Disenchanted (2022)

          Happy Friday, everybody. Chuck here, and we're taking a look at Disenchanted, the 2022 sequel to 2007's Enchanted. This film just released on Disney+, and sees the returns of actors Amy Adams, Patrick Dempsey, James Marsden, and Idina Menzel, and they are joined by newcomers like Maya Rudolph, Yvette Nicole Brown, Jayma Mays, Gabriella Baldacchino, Oscar Nunez, and Kolton Stewart. Meanwhile, in addition to returning producers Barry Sonnenfeld and Barry Josephson, we have a new director in the form of Adam Shankman, who is best known for directing Disney films like The Pacifier and Bedtime Stories , as well as big screen adaptations of the stage musicals Hairspray, which also featured James Marsden, and Rock of Ages.

         So, it's been ten years since the events of the first Enchanted, and Giselle is happily married to Robert, making her the stepmother of his now teenage daughter Morgan. On top of that, Giselle and Robert have a new baby, Sophia. We start with the family moving from their New York City apartment to a house in the suburban town of Monroeville, where Giselle meets the head of the town, Malvina Monroe, along with her two sidekicks Rosaleen and Ruby, or as I like to call them Tweedledee and Tweedledumbass. All joking aside, I really enjoyed Yvette Nicole Brown and Jayma Mays in their roles in this movie. 

         Unfortunately, the first couple of days don't really go too well, as an accidental electrical fire causes Morgan to lose a majority of her clothes, and unfortunately she doesn't make many new friends at her new school. But, a surprise visit from Edward and Nancy brings a surprise gift for little Sophia: an Andalasian wishing wand. Also, Giselle's chipmunk friend Pip shows up, which is cool. After things start to get out of hand, Giselle uses the wand to wish for a fairytale life, which turns the entire town, and everyone in it, into something out of a Disney fairytale. 

           Unfortunately, with a fairytale life comes a certain amount of fairytale stereotypes, as we see Malvina literally become an evil queen, and Giselle slowly turning into a wicked stepmother, complete with Pip turning from a chipmunk into a cat. Uh-oh. On top of that, the spell on the town is sapping the magic from Andalasia as well, and Giselle has until the last stroke of midnight to undo the wish or else everything will be irreversible. How effing original, they have to undo the wish by midnight. Meanwhile, what's Robert up to? Oh, he's trying to fight and destroy a bunch of monsters, from a dragon to a giant. That's cool.

         Anyway, Giselle's back-and-forth between her ordinary self and her newfound wicked side is causing friction between herself and Morgan. On the one hand, Giselle still cares for Morgan and wants her to have her own happily ever after, but the wicked stepmother ultimately acts like the typical wicked stepmother a la Lady Tremaine from Cinderella. Seeing only one hope, Giselle sends Morgan through the well Edward and Nancy came through earlier to get help from Andalasia. All the while, Giselle and Malvina lock each other in their sights, in an effort to prove which of the two is more wicked. Think if the Evil Queen from Snow White ever met Lady Tremaine from Cinderella, and the two had a showdown over who was more spiteful. 

         Morgan, luckily, does get help from Edward and Nancy, who take her to Giselle's memory tree, where she is able to revive the tree, and with the magic of memory, returns to Monroeville to help restore Giselle to normal, which she does, but almost too late, as midnight is fast approaching, and on top of the wish becoming irreversible, everything in, or from, Andalasia is fading away. Ultimately, it's not Giselle that saves the day this time, but Morgan, who makes a new wish just in the nick of time, making everything normal again. No magic, no fairytale stuff, just back to as it was. 

           And, I hands down gotta give some props to Gabriella Baldacchino, who takes on the role of Morgan in this movie. She has easily one of the biggest arcs in the movie, starting off as a teen struggling to a new situation, to being the Cinderella to Giselle's Lady Tremaine, to being the one to save the day. I also like the dynamic shift in the ways that Morgan and Giselle interact with each other as the movie progresses, and both Gabriella Baldacchino and Amy Adams just make it work perfectly. 

          Speaking of Amy Adams, she and Patrick Dempsey are just phenomenal in this movie, returning as Giselle and Robert. Now, we don't see them sharing tons of screentime the way they did in the original Enchanted, but this story isn't really about that. In truth, the movie makes sure to set up that, yes, they're together, and yes, they have a new baby now. And really, Robert's arc of trying to slay monsters was pretty damn funny, and big props to Patrick Dempsey for just going all out and being hysterically over the top, which is in contrast to his straight man performance in the original Enchanted, which we do get to see some of in this movie, as well. The other two return players, Edward and Nancy, are both played really well by the returning James Marsden and Idina Menzel. And big props to all of the singing Idina got to do in this movie. Admittedly it was hard sitting and hearing her sing without immediately thinking of Elsa from Frozen, but again Idina has a very distinct singing voice, which when combined with the kind of songs found in a Disney flick, yeah comparisons are almost inevitable. But, regardless, she does get to sing in this movie, and her songs were fantastic. 

         While we're on the subject, let's talk about the songs in this movie. Alan Menken and Stephen Schwartz, who worked together on the songs for such Disney Renaissance films as Pocahontas and The Hunchback of Notre Dame, return from working together on the original Enchanted, and the songs in this movie are a lot of fun. And, there are a lot more songs in this movie by comparison to the original. I think that director Adam Shankman approached this movie by framing it as a musical, in contrast to the original Enchanted, which was a deconstruction of the typical Disney animated musical fairytale, where the songs played into the deconstruction. Here, the songs are part of the world this movie sets up. 

         The power dynamic between Amy Adams as Giselle and Maya Rudolph as Malvina is honestly hilarious. Both of these ladies are phenomenal at comedy, singing, and just owning the screen, and their dynamic of "there's only room for one wicked queen in this town" is easily the biggest stand out of the movie, and is what I think most will remember after watching it. Also, I forgot to mention that Malvina has a teenage son, in the form of Tyson, and of course he's meant to be a romantic interest for Morgan. Now, I really don't have a lot to say about the guy. I mean, actor Kolton Stewart did a decent portrayal of the character, but he just didn't have a lot of screen time to shine, especially by comparison to Gabriella Baldacchino as Morgan. While we do get to see the two form a bond, that's pretty much it until the last third, when we see him help out with trying to save Giselle and restore Monroeville back to normal. 

           With all of that said, the movie is a lot of fun, and it's exactly what fans of the first Enchanted will expect from a sequel, with a few surprise twists here and there. I'm giving Disenchanted a rating of 4.85/5. Be sure to check it out on Disney+, and I hope you enjoy. I know I did. 

       Anyway guys, this is Chuck signing off, and I'll be back on Monday for an exciting review of a cinematic classic.