Movie Review: Disenchanted

Movie Review: Disenchanted                                                                              11-20-22

In the sequel to the beloved fairytale spoof Enchanted, Giselle and Robert move to Monroeville with now teenage stepdaughter Morgan and baby daughter Sofia. Feeling that Morgan isn’t happy with her new life, Giselle uses a wishing wand given from King Edward and Queen Nancy to wish for a fairytale life. However, you know the old saying: Be careful what you wish for. Now it’s up to Morgan to reverse the wish before Giselle turns into an evil stepmother.

First, I must start with this: WHAT HAVE YOU DONE WITH GISELLE?! Yes, in the original film, Giselle was a fish out of water who tried to find the positive side to everything, but she also learned how to adapt to the real world. Heck, she managed to defeat her bad guy! In Disenchanted, however, Giselle is changed back to a ditzy girl who does more harm than help.

Giselle about to use the magic wand.

And remember Morgan, Robert’s adorable daughter from the first film who immediately loves Giselle as if she was her own mother? Well, forget all that, as she’s now the cynical teen who wants to move back to New York. I’m aware that teenagers can be moody, but did you have to turn her into a  in the same fashion as Alex Russo from Wizards of Waverley Place? I know this may seem a bit unfair to compare the two, but look at Paddington 2! That film managed to have Judy and Jonathan aged up without having them turned into jerks.

The jokes in Disenchanted also aren’t as funny as they were in the first film. Remember how well the first Enchanted did with poking fun at fairytales while also embracing the genre? Well, that’s tossed aside for humor you’d expect from Animaniacs and Shrek.

If there is one thing I liked about Disenchanted, the costume designs are amazing, both for Monroeville and Monrolasia. Other than that, it feels like it’s trying to recapture lightning in a bottle only to get struck by it.

In conclusion, stick with the original Enchanted, as well as another Disney+ exclusive film from this year, Chip n Dale: Rescue Rangers. If you want to know what I thought of that film, I’ll review it in January.

Rating: 2.6 stars out of 5.