I'll be honest. I don't think Enchanted is a magical fantasy. I think it's often clever, and fairly entertaining, but has its flaws that pull me out of the film, mostly in how much it winks winks at the audience instead of committing to its premise. But I still like it. I usually enjoy it enough when I watch it. But I never fall in love with it. I can say that I likely will feel the same about Disenchanted, often clever, maybe trying too hard, and a little too wink wink for me to truly embrace it.
I like the ideas here, about Giselle becoming the wicked step-mother trope and exploring that is all it's messed up glory. I also really appreciated the sub plot about Morgan becoming a teen and all the difficulties that brings in terms of parent-child relationship. Sometimes I think this film hits us too hard over the head with its themes like the first film did. But the ideas are interesting.
Disney legend Alan Menken returns to write the music to mixed results. In my opinion only Badder holds up to the legacy of Happy Working Song or That's How You Know... neither of which hold up to his classics for the studio. Most of the rest of the music here is forgettable even if they do fix their glaring error in the first film by giving Menzel a song to sing.
To be fair I believe if you liked Enchanted you'll like Disenchanted. Also if you didn't like the first you won't like this. And if you are like me, where you have mixed feelings about the first, you'll have mixed feelings about this one. Still it's worth watching just for this cast. The guys drop the ball a little by being a bit too hammy. But Adams, Rudolph, Brown, and Mayes all just light up the screen.
Disenchanted
Starring: Amay Adams, Patrick Dempsey, James Marsden, Idina Menzel, Maya Rudolph, Gabriella Baldacchino, Nicole Brown, Jayma Mayes, Oscar Nunez, Griffin Newman
Director: Adam Shankman
Writer: Brigitte Hales
No comments:
Post a Comment