Disenchanted

It’s been ten years since Giselle (Amy Adams) was drawn to New York from her animated kingdom of Andalasia and found her prince charming in lawyer Robert (Patrick Dempsey). But the big city has taken some of the beauty out of “Happily Ever After”, which is why the family moves to the suburb of Monroeville. Where the crickets are chirping, Giselle and Robert want to enjoy their family life. Much to the annoyance of Robert’s daughter – and thus Giselle’s stepdaughter – Morgan (Gabriella Baldacchino), who actually would have preferred to stay in the big city.

But even in the suburbs, the problems are not getting any smaller, on the contrary. With the nasty Malvina (Maya Rudolph), Giselle soon gets to know a lady who doesn’t tolerate any competition next to her. In order to still find happiness, Giselle gets magical support from home but finds out that her magical heart’s desire transforms the whole neighborhood into a fairytale world. With herself as the evil stepmother! In addition, she has used up the magic power of Andalusia, which threatens to destroy the animated country. Can she reverse the spell by midnight?

Disenchanted has turned out to be a solid production, which comes up with a very successful story, but does without rough edges. Except for the mother-in-law problem, there are no surprises, but the roles are consistently cast prominently. There is a bit of a lack of courage for the extraordinary because with the inclusion of the animated world one could have done a lot more. After all, Giselle and her world(s) remain small splashes of color: the film turns out to be a pleasant sequel, but it can’t quite hold a candle to the original.

• Disenchanted