Sequels can often be a hit or miss, but can always attract fans that love the original movie. Fifteen years after the movie “Enchanted” came out, Disney released the sequel “Disenchanted” on Nov. 18. 

The story starts by revealing the unfortunate reality that Giselle (Amy Adams) is unhappy with her life in New York City. She decides to move her family to a suburban town in hopes of living a happier life. The story climaxes into chaos as Giselle uses a wishing wand to live in a fairy tale, but this wish transforms her unwillingly into a wicked stepmother. 

The beginning of the movie has promise, as it is nostalgic to see the returning cast members. It dismantles the problematic belief that life ends after finding your “happily ever after.” Giselle’s experience with motherhood involves realistic portrayals of sleepless nights and frustrating arguments with her stepdaughter, Morgan (Gabriella Baldacchino), as Morgan’s anger is dismissed to be a part of her “teenage phase.” The introduction of the movie fully illustrates why happily ever afters cannot exist in the real world because there will always be ups and downs in life. 

However, as soon as the plot involving their life in the suburbs gets interesting with real life scenarios and struggles, Giselle makes a wish to live in a fairytale world, and the entire setting becomes filled with evil queens, giants and magic. Giselle’s delightful personality is unfortunately absent for the majority of the movie, replaced with her wicked alter-ego. With all of the characters’ personalities changed, the movie becomes less enjoyable because it does not reflect their original characters whom many people came to love.

The main idea of “Enchanted” was to debunk stereotypical fairy tales. While it does feel like “Disenchanted” tries to share the same message, it rather evokes a different connotation when it follows the stereotypical fairy tale plot, causing the storyline to be very predictable. It would have been better to focus on the idea that Giselle and her family do not need to live in a fairy tale to live a fulfilling life. 

While the music in the film emanates the same nostalgic vibe as the songs in the first movie, the film felt more like a musical with a total of 10 songs compared to the three memorable songs in “Enchanted.” Because there were so many songs in the movie, none of them stood out. It seemed like it was only the music that was carrying the plot of the movie.

Overall, the movie felt too long for a 1 hour and 58 minute film. There were some unnecessary scenes that the creators could have cut out towards the end. Despite all of this, it was still refreshing to see the original cast of the movie once more and be able to finish the idea of the characters’ not so happily ever after.

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