Disenchanted: A Lackluster Sequel

When referring to the resolution of a narrative, the notion of someone involved having earned their outcome is something that is widely discussed. The idea that a character who is motivating the plot and the eventual resolution should go through some change or growth over the course of the runtime is a basic tenant of screenwriting. Of the plethora of problems that affect Disenchanted, this is one of them and just makes the movie not quite as enjoyable an experience as it could have been.

Disenchanted picks up after 2007’s Enchanted and follows Giselle (Amy Adams), Robert (Patrick Dempsey), and Morgan (Gabriella Baldacchino) as they move from New York City to the suburbs. Giselle and Morgan have a fight and Giselle uses a wishing wand from her home of Andalasia to wish that her life was like a fairytale so Morgan could have the life she wanted. The problem ensues when Giselle realizes that she is starting to turn evil as step-mothers in fairy tales are typically the antagonist and she has to race the clock to undo her wish before it becomes permanent.

The biggest problem is that the resolution of the plot is never earned. Giselle doesn’t learn anything and her entire motivation to revert the wish is to not turn into the antagonist of the story. The issue is also exacerbated by the fact that the opening of the movie does kind of put her in the position where, while she’s not the cartoonish villain she becomes in the main plot of the movie, she is still the bad guy of the story when looked at through the perspective of Morgan. Morgan is never given the opportunity to become a two-dimensional character, let alone a three dimensional character and her entire personality is defined as “teenager.” The inclusion of other outside forces that want things to stay the same feel like a needless way to pad the plot and develop a way in which Giselle is not entirely the antagonist of the movie because there is someone worse than her.

The other problem that the movie has is that the third act ups the stakes to a needless degree, much like Thor: Love and Thunder. Rather than it just being Giselle becoming the antagonist in this world if they don’t correct things, the magic that doing it is pulling the magic from Andalasia and will destroy both worlds at the same time. In the same way that Eternity did not need to be brought in to make the stakes of Love and Thunder feel real, this world-ending cataclysm is not needed to make Disenchanted
feel like a movie that has real stakes. Take into consideration as well that the majority of fairy tales do not have world-ending stakes at the center of the conflict and their strength comes from character so for Disenchanted to take this route just feels like a misread of the genre they are telling a story in.

Disenchanted does have some comedic moments and some interesting effects shots, however there is not enough to make this movie an interesting watch. It is unlikely to convert someone who was not an Enchanted
fan already, however fans of the original will probably find the charm in this.

Final Rating: 5/10