The only humorous scene in “Disenchanted,” the completely unneeded Disney+ sequel to the 2007 New York City-set “Enchanted,” occurs early on.
A narrator states, “New York was not Giselle’s fairy tale after all.” Thousands of new Floridians will collapse in fits of laughter.
movie review
Running time: 121 minutes. On Disney+ and rated PG (moderate risk and profanity).
Giselle (Amy Adams) was not deterred by crime, rising costs of living, and steadily deteriorating circumstances in Manhattan. The cartoon princess now has a baby with her lawyer husband Robert (Patrick Dempsey) and their apartment near Central Park is too tiny for their growing family, which also includes her teenage stepdaughter Morgan.
The family then relocates to a house in a fictitious Westchester suburb named Monroeville.
In “Disenchanted,” Giselle (Amy Adams, left) and Robert (Patrick Dempsey) are new parents.
With permission from Disney Enterprises, Inc.
And with that, the entire premise of this fish-out-of-water franchise is abruptly thrown into the Hudson. No more jokes between an innocent, good-natured Disney princess with angry, always frowning, black-clad New Yorkers. Instead, we are served classic family crap in which Giselle’s mother clashes with Morgan (Gabriella Baldacchino), who misses her former home.
Giselle, unsure of what to do, takes the wishing wand that her ex-lover Edward (James Marsden) and his wife Nancy (Idina Menzel) gave to her child and sings “I Wish We Had a Fairy Tale Life.”
This spell transforms Monroeville overnight into a community reminiscent of “Beauty and the Beast.” In the town square, people wearing goofy hats and aprons dance.
Malvina (Maya Rudolph) is the antagonist in the town of Monroeville.
Jeffrey Hession
However, things get messy. Giselle evolves progressively into an Evil Stepmother and competes with another villain, Malvina (Maya Rudolph), an unpleasant high school mother. Rudolph’s diluted content does not match her immense potential, and she is again underutilized in another film.
Director Adam Shankman, composer Alan Menken, and lyricist Stephen Schwartz have transformed “Disenchanted” into a full-fledged musical to compensate for the personality-free suburban environment.
“Love Power” is sung by Nancy (Idina Menzel, right), who is married to Edward (James Marsden).
Jeffrey Hession
The first film contained only three big songs: “True Love’s Kiss,” “Happy Working Song,” and “That’s How You Know,” a beautiful Central Park flash mob-style performance. This time around, there are a solid ten imitation songs that do nothing except imitate better Disney songs and drag on for much too long. The want tobe hit “Love Power,” sung by Menzel’s character who doesn’t require her own song, features the “Frozen” actress belting “Let it shine!”
One funny scene is “Fairytale Life (After the Spell),” in which panini grills and espresso machines sing as if they reside in Pee-Playhouse. wee’s You have difficulty caring about the rest.
Is it simply nostalgia to see Adams reprise the part that made her a star? Not at all She, Dempsey, Marsden, and Menzel all appear a bit aged for this story. These are, after all, sparkling princesses and princesses, not 300-year-old witches from “Hocus Pocus.”
New York City, the true protagonist of this series, is the one we miss the most.