Disenchanted

If Enchanted wasn't going to win any oscar, the movie was original, music was refreshing and the balance between fairytale and humour was holding fine.

In Disenchanted, all breaks apart. The title is exactly what I'd say people might feel after seeing this. Half way through the film, it's clear this movie isn't going anywhere.

The acting is cringe, the music lands blandly on too much plastic landscaping.

There is no even a sense the to whole plot.

There was a potential in the title. It could have been what the first few minutes makes you believe the movie was going to be. Giselle facing the reality of life vs magic. Instead, it forces the audience into live another sad version of a disney fairytale. What a waste.

I could watch Enchanted any time I want to feel better about the basic goodness of people - and that is what is missing in Disenchated. Apart from James Marsden's dimwitted return as the Prince, and finally letting Menzel sing (albeit a forgettable song amidst a sea of forgettable songs), there's nothing to recommend here. It's a sequel that shouldn't have been made, or at least not by a group of writers, which appears to be the case here. Same cast as Enchanted, Amy Adams actually looks even nicer this time around, but what a godawful story they're stuck with - it's just a mish-mosh of set pieces, each trying to set up the next piece, and failing. As was the case with Hocus Pocus 2, Disney has lost its way.

If it wasn't for the nostalgia I'd given this a 4.

Is a pity, because all the ingredients are there; great actors, a solid pitch, a massive budget...but no filling, only crust.

The concept of the plot is great; a magical wish goes wrong as it means fairy tale logic is applied to real people and our former heroine Giselle is turning to a villain! Will the almost grown Morgan be able to reach past her grumpy teen persona and find her faith in fairy tales again? Great pitch!

Only that it's not what the movie is about.

There's no gradient turn of the people, no slow realization for neither Giselle or Morgan. Everything is explained as it happens, the logic of magic made up as it shows, or at least that's what it feels like as they present the answer to a problem exactly one second after it's occurred and then take three whole minutes to actually carry out what ever they just figured out before the next one shows up.

There is no generational change; Giselle is still the heroine although she's also the villain (?) and Morgan and Robert simply become completely other characters instead of gradually turning into their fairy tale persona. Missed opportunity.

I'd have loved for this to be Morgan's and Giselles story. Have Morgan rediscover her love for magic and imagination and faith in "happily ever after" by finding her self as the heroine she didn't think she was - all while Giselle yet again find her way back to what made her want to leave her former life of imagined paths for an open world that may be full of strife and conflict, but where love and overcoming those conflicts tastes all the sweeter for it.

This was not that. This was a mess of musical numbers "for the sake of it", special effects because they can do them and focus on Amy Adam's, because she's the star.

Disappointing. But not unexpected.

Was it as good as the original? No, but it was still highly entertaining. I liked that they actually did something new with the story. So many sequels just basically end up doing the same story as the first. And Amy Adams was clearly eating it up as a villain. She was **wicked** fun. Plot wise, I loved the focus on the mother-daughter dynamic, although I could foresee how the spell would be broken from a mile away. And although Patrick Dempsey gets to have a bit more fun by partaking in the singing and dancing I feel like he has a kind of useless B plot. He definitely isn't as important as he was in the first. I thought they did a good job casting with Morgan. I seriously didn't even realize that it wasn't the original actress. A lot of the sets and costumes actually reminded me a lot of the Brandy Cinderella movie. They definitely didn't look cheap and they were full of whimsy but also didn't look fully cinematic either. The songs were very good too. I don't know if they will be as iconic as the original movies, probably not. But still overall good. I think my favourite might be Idina Menzel's memory song. Also just like the first, there's lots of fun Disney Easter eggs to look out for. It was a lot of fun and a pretty good sequel in my eyes.

Disenchanted delivers a cliche story that loses the charm of the first film. It manages to siphon out everything that made Enchanted great, whilst adding a forgettable villain into the mix, and numerous plot holes, that had me scratching my head at times. Performances were as good as they could be with the lackluster script, and the climax of the film came off as shallow and underwhelming. This movie is just another Disney reboot and I wouldn't recommend watching it.

Best part of the film was James marsdens character, he's just the only funny person in the whole movie, and it looks like James is having a lot of fun playing him

5/10.