The original Enchanted was a masterpiece and career-launching performance for Amy Adams. How does the straight-to-streaming sequel compare?
Disney leadership would be kicking themselves this week for having put Disenchanted onto streaming and Strange World into the box office. Because leadership is dizzy with the news of a massive shakeup at the company, they might not be able to assess just how big of a mistake this has been. Though Strange World is likely a financial loss for the company, Disenchanted would have been a real money-maker.
No, the music isn’t even close to the quality of the original Enchanted. “Happy Working Song” and “True Love’s Kiss” are earworms that deserve just as much praise as songs like “Let It Go.” Disenchanted is stuck with its best being an Idina Menzel song that is sloppily mixed and sometimes hard to hear. That doesn’t mean “Love Power” is a bad song, just that it could have been done better if Menzel’s lyrics were easier to hear. There will still be plenty of tears from some viewers when the song hits the movie as the lesson of this sequel is all about reality versus idealism, specifically in families, and the very nature of adoption. That’s a lofty target to try to hit and the movie, thankfully, does a marvelous job in that regard.
What isn’t as well-done is the moving of all the pieces to get to that point. Amy Adams somehow perfects just how Giselle would act after fifteen years of living in the real world. The denizens of the fantasy world are all performed superbly well. But sidekick villains and McDreamy himself are all left in awkward roles that needed more screen time or more fleshing out in order to hit. It also needs to be said that it’s a real shame the animation in this movie is so bad. It points out just how long-gone we are from a time when 2D animation studios existed and could pull of traditional cartoon styles. It’s a stark contrast to the original’s opening. And though the original’s third act is quite rough today (in an otherwise stellar movie), it’s still notably better than Disenchanted.
Original Music Quality
Sequel Music Quality
But that’s not to say that Disenchanted is a bad movie at all. It’s not. It’s quite good. Amy Adams carries the film in the same way Elisabeth Olsen carried Wandavision. They’re remarkably similar concepts too. But unlike Wandavision, this trip through overbearing motherhood ends with the protagonist landing on a truly beautiful conclusion.
Disenchanted might not have set the Thanksgiving box office on fire but it would have made a healthy profit. It’s a shame a performance such as Adams’ isn’t on the big screen.
Review Score: 7.5/10 (Very Good)
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