“Disenchanted”, a sequel to “Enchanted”, was released Nov. 18 on Disney+. The predecessor film premiered on Nov. 21, 2007. “Enchanted” was about a woman falling through a portal in a magical land and ending up in ours while “Disenchanted” follows up on her life in our world. 

There may be a 15 yr difference between these films but absolutely no difference in quality. “Disenchanted” is just as magical as the original flick due to its two strongest elements, the songs and costumes. These elements help make up for the underwhelming conclusion. 

My favorite songs from “Disenchanted” are “Badder” and “Love Power”. “Badder” is a villain duet between Amy Adams and Maya Rudolph and is one of the cleverest songs I have ever heard. “I’m the heart and brains and you, you’re just the bladder” is a sick burn and I love it. 

The choreography in the song is a little basic, but Adams and Rudolph put all their energy into it making it enjoyable anyway.

 My other favorite, “Love Power,” is technically not a very good song. It sounds just like a basic Disney princess song, however, it is sung by Idina Menzel. 

Menzel played Elsa in the 2013 film “Frozen” and Elphaba in the 2003 musical “Wicked”. Menzel was also in “Enchanted” but she didn’t have a singing part. Then the creators of the sequel had the brilliant idea to finally give her a song, that Menzel absolutely kills. 

The best part of the song is when Menzel belts the chorus. Plus, despite the simplicity of the song, it is quite catchy.

 Along with the songs, the costumes also match the movie’s whimsical atmosphere. 

The ballgowns in this movie are second to none and this film should get an Oscar for its costume design, no questions asked. I will admit that maybe I’m biased towards ball gowns; regardless, the dresses look like they took a lot of effort to make. 

My favorite gown has to be the black dress with shiny tassels that Rudolph wears. The jewelry looks really cheap though and like it was made out of plastic which takes away from the atmosphere. 

Another thing that takes away from the whimsy is the animated segments which don’t look as good as the original movie. However, I can forgive that because I honestly didn’t think they would have animated segments at all so it’s a welcome addition. 

The effects also look pretty good even in the finale. Even though the finale has decent effects, it’s pretty boring when compared to the original film’s conclusion. Plus, there are no twists and it’s extremely straightforward. 

Also, about half of the characters either have absolutely nothing to do in the finale or aren’t acting at all like themselves. This highlights the films’ biggest problem which is it focuses too much on the main character. 

In the original film, which I realize I’m saying a lot, most of the characters had some sort of arc or purpose pertaining to the plot. 

In the new sequel, none of the characters experience growth besides the main character, and characters spend most of their time on side quests that don’t relate to the plot. 

Despite its flaws I would still give three out of five stars since it captures the feelings of a musical fairytale so well. It is a great watch if you enjoy fantasy stories.

 

Liz Curtin can be contacted at [email protected]