‘Disenchanted’: Cast & Crew
Director: Adam Shankman
Cast: Amy Adams, Patrick Dempsey, Maya Rudolph, Yvette Nicole Brown, Jayma Mays, Gabriella Baldacchino, Idina Menzel, James Marsden
Available On: Disney+ Hotstar
Duration: 1 Hour 58 Minutes
‘Disenchanted’: Story
Fifteen years after her happily ever after of ‘Enchanted’, Giselle questions her happiness in the bustling city of New York. She went ahead to wish for a house away from the city. They pick a house that’s away from the city and feels quite like the magical city of Andalasia. But, in order to get close to her teenage daughter, Giselle wishes for the town to turn into the fairy tale land of Andalasia. This inadvertently turns the lives of those in the real world and Andalasia upside down in the process. Will Giselle be able to get things back to order? Will the two worlds collide and create a multiverse of madness? Well, you’ll have to watch the film to find out.
‘Disenchanted’: Performances
Amy Adams as Giselle is the sole person standing tall throughout the film. From being the loving mother in real-life to being the cunning stepmother in the fairy tale land. The way she sways between the wide variety of expressions is what makes the character memorable.
Maya Rudolph is the only other person who has decent enough screen time to even get a mention. She has an ability like Pankaj Tripathi to always make the most of even a small scene. Playing the evil queen, she definitely got the emotions to the uppity best.
Patrick Dempsey is absolutely wasted in a role that was just a few minutes here and there.
Gabriella Baldacchino as the teenage daughter should have managed to bring into her character more of the angst a teenager usually has.
Yvette Nicole Brown, Jayma Mays, Idina Menzel, and James Marsden are barely there for bling-and-miss appearances and hardly have any impactful scenes.
‘Disenchanted’: Script, Direction & Technical Aspects
Adam Shankman’s direction is heavily dependent on visual effects. While the storyline does have some good highs and lows, the direction relies entirely on wowing audiences, especially kids with the brilliant VFX. The issue arises because nowadays live-action animated films are no longer made just keeping in mind the kids. Even adults, who are actually accompanying the kids while watching the films, need to enjoy the film as much. Shankman’s presentation didn’t manage to get the storytelling good enough to make the adults want to sit till the very end.
J. David Stem, David N. Weiss, and Richard LaGravenese’s story is decent. However, the story based on Bill Kelly’s characters doesn’t have the depth to hold on to you for long. It’s only Amy Adams’ acting that will keep you wanting to watch more, otherwise, the story is a bit too predictable for adults to even want to sit through till the end. However, it would definitely be a hit with the little kids.
Simon Duggan’s cinematography is one of the highlights of the movie. He definitely has managed to give a perfect live-action vision to a story that was animated in the previous part. So, managing to merge the two worlds of animation and live-action was indeed worth the time spent.
Emma E. Hickox and Chris Lebenzon seem to have edited two different portions of the movie. While one may have been in charge of the live-action portions while the other may have been editing the animated act. Both have been kept decently paced, and there doesn’t seem any abrupt jump cuts between the two worlds. However, at 1 hour 58 minutes, the film does look a bit too long considering its target audience is largely kids.
Alan Menken’s music is surely one of the best highlights of the film if you’re a fan of musicals. Some of the songs are actually so good as lullabies that if you’ve little kids at home, you’re surely going to use some of them to get them to sleep or play them while you feed them.
‘Disenchanted’: Can Kids Watch It?
Yes
Outlook’s Verdict
‘Disenchanted’ is a worthy next step in the ‘Enchanted’ universe. However, it’s not one of those live animation films that even adults would love. This one is only for the kids and the ones who want to keep up with what’s happening in the ‘Enchanted’ universe. For the rest, you can definitely Avoid this. I am going with 2 stars.
