'Disenchanted' review: Amy Adams returns, but the magic is gone

I've been listening to "That's How You Know" for the past few days since I watched "Enchanted." Amy Adams was cast as an animated Disney princess who haplessly plummets into the real world of Times Square, where her idealized visions of love are challenged by a divorce attorney. It still holds up fifteen years later, proving a winsome yet subversive spin on fairy-tale expectations. The sequel Disenchanted can't match the magic of the original.

Disenchanted picks up roughly 15 years after the first film's conclusion, with Giselle and Robert moving to a suburb. The move puts teen daughter Morgan into an angsty spiral aimed at her stepmother. Giselle's arts-and-crafts gumption riles Malvina, who is played by Maya Rudolph. A hasty wish that turns this New York suburb into a new Andalasia leads to a mother and daughter rivalry that comes to a head.

Amy Adams and Maya Rudolph shine in Disenchanted. 

Credit: Walt Disney Studios

Giselle wants this town to be a place where fairy tales can come true. Her surroundings are changed overnight. The animals are capable of talking. People who are hovering become fairies. Malvina became a queen. Giselle is made of what Morgan went from being a teen to a Cinderella. The former almost-princess is becoming an evil stepmother.

Adams likes to play nice and naughty at the same time. Giselle is warm and blithely oblivious to the absurdity of breaking into song and dance while workmen are nearby. Giselle's doe-eyed light leaves her eyes and that broad smile turns to a sexy smirk as she sees a selfish, sexy diva who dreams of power at any cost.

Rudolph is a sensational scene partner as the pair face off, first with passive aggression, then with thinly veiled threats, and finally with an all out musical throw down. She can lean into the arch of it all thanks to her SNL chops and singing skills. Their song has the energy of a Disney villain, but the writing doesn't help.

Disenchanted lacks the wit of the Enchanted. 

Credit: Walt Disney Studios

The culture clash of Andalasia and New York City made Bill Kelly's idea for the first film exciting. It is an intriguing idea to turn Giselle from a hero to a villain. The plot of Disenchanted is vague in a suburb. The specificity of the city, from its surly construction workers to the rapturous range of visitors to Central Park who may be inclined to join a charming tourist's sing-along, is lost. The suburb was established quickly through the example of a queen bee and her friends. The director may have intended to make the colors pop but actually made everything look flat and cheap.

The residents of this place burst into song and dance in Andalusian costumes. They sing and dance, but they don't have a lot. Alan Menken is back with new songs, but they don't hold up as well as the best ones. I can't remember a single line of Disenchanted's songs, though I'm grateful that this sequel makes up for the fact that I couldn't sing in the original. Disney knows better after "let it go" The song they've given her is disappointing and forces her to repeat the phrase "love power" over and over.

The logic of the story is thin. There is a new mythos for magic, along with a wacky talking scroll, slippery rules about the world-changing spell, and even how powerful the movie is. Robert was thrown off on a side quest with no importance to the rom-com. James Marsden, who is once again a devastatingly entertaining himbo prince, is criminally underused because he is so popular.

Disenchanted is playing to kids — and talking down to them. 

Credit: Walt Disney Studios

The movie was enjoyable for grown ups. Not only was it a charming adventure with colorful characters, but also a romantic comedy with just enough edge to keep it from being sickeningly sweet. Disenchanted does away with the rom-com and the edge and instead puts its core characters into a cookie cutter mold.

There's a lot of fun to be had within this, like Adam's lighting- quick turns of character, Rudolph's comically wicked queen, and every single frame of Marsden in heroic doof mode. The songs aren't great. The story is poorly written and has life lessons. The production value is not as awe-inspiring as it could be. This is a follow-up to the first one.

Is it worth it for a family night out? It's probably a possibility. Will it be remembered like the original? It's probably not.

Disenchanted is available to watch on Disney+.