After fifteen years, Amy Adams and Patrick Dempsey have preferred in the Enchanted universe for a sequel. Directed by Adam Shankman, Disenchanted picks up around a decade after the events of the first film and sees Giselle – now with the surname of Phillip – with a new baby, which leads to her family moving to the suburbs, causing tension between her and teenage stepdaughter Morgan (played by Gabriella Baldacchino).

Tensions rise between the two as Giselle tries a bit too hard to help Morgan adjust to their new town, and godparents King Edward and Queen Nancy (played by returning James Marsden and Idina Menzel ) arrives to deliver a magical gift to new baby Sophia. When things had passed a boiling point, Giselle uses said gift to try to improve the family’s situation but ends up getting more than she bargained for.

The story here is a classic “be careful what you wish for” situation combined with a key message about non-traditional families and growing up. None of this is new, but the magical elements of the story allow the cast to have a little fun with it, especially Adams, who plays a dual role of sorts, as his magical spell leads to unintended consequences that reappear a new side of Giselle. Baldacchino stands out in scenes with the powerhouses Adams and Menzel, and Maya Rudolph joins the franchise with a tour de force performance as the story’s main villain. Its lackeys of sorts are played by scene-stealers Yvette Nicole Brown and Jayma Mays.

Since this is a story of mothers and daughters, the women take center stage and the taboo men have more room in the back. Dempsey’s Robert, who was one of the central figures in the first film, doesn’t have much to do here and is essentially inessential to the plot (although he may sing a tiny bit in this one) . Marsden’s Edward is still fun to watch, but he also doesn’t get as much screen time as he did in the original.

Songwriter Alan Menken also returns from Enchanted. It’s got that “classic Disney” sound (as it should be, considering how many Disney movies he’s made music for at this point), but Disenchanted’s songs aren’t as powerful as those of its predecessor. . If there’s anything that stands out, it’s probably the duet between Adams and Rudolph over their rivalry, and thankfully the movie fixes the original’s mistake of not giving Menzel his own number in allowing him both a big solo and a nice duet with Marsden. Really, it would be a crime for a franchise that pokes fun at classic Disney tropes not to let her sing her heart out since becoming a true Disney icon between those two films as the voice of Elsa from Frozen. (They even manage to insert a “Let It Go” reference into his big song.)

The other area where the movie is a bit lacking is the satire itself. While there’s still a lot of talk about how fairy tale tropes fit (or don’t) into the real world, it plays out a little more directly here, with less of a public nod. In the fifteen years between those films, Disney poking fun at itself has become a trope in its own right – and admittedly pretty tired at this point – but the Enchanted franchise actually seems like the most fitting place. to do that, so it’s odd that they scale it down a bit with this sequel.

Disenchanted probably isn’t as strong as its predecessor, but it’s a worthy follow-up, and it’s certainly fun to catch up with these characters and have another adventure with them. It’s a great movie to watch with the family and should hit that nostalgia button for fans of the original film.

RATING: 7.5/10

As ComingSoon’s review policy explains, a score of 7.5 equates to “Good.” A successful entertainment that is worth seeing, but which may not please everyone.