Disenchanted

 Once upon a time, Disney decided to bring its fairy tale style to the real world. I'm not talking about its live-action remakes, but Enchanted, its delightful self-parody of their animated films. It took ages, but we now have its sequel, Disenchanted, on Disney Plus. Let's see how it is.

The first film had Giselle (Amy Adams) of the animated Kingdom of Andalasia thrown into live-action Manhattan. After dealing with her evil would-be mother-in-law Narissa (Susan Sarandon), she and lawyer Robert (Patrick Dempsey) had their own happily ever after. We're now post happily ever after, ten years later. Giselle is stepmother to Morgan (Gabriella Baldacchino, tagging in for Rachel Covey) and mother to baby Sofia. Giselle decides Manhattan life isn't for her, so she and her family move to Monroeville, a suburb essentially run by Malvina Monroe (Maya Rudolph). Their new house looks nice but try living there...

Giselle tries to mend her family's unhappiness with magic. Her former intended, King Edward (James Marsden) and his Queen Nancy (Idina Menzel), gave her a MacGuffin magic wand. She uses the wand to wish for a "Fairy Tale life." Next thing she knows, Monroeville is Monrolasia, filled with giants, dragons, talking animals and group musical numbers. Her family is happy and content. But then she has moments where she turns wicked ... like a wicked stepmother! The wish is so powerful that Andalasia itself is falling apart. She has till midnight to reverse the curse. She has to contend with not just her wicked self, but Queen Malvina, who won't give up her power without a fight.

The sequel's best idea was turning Giselle evil. Adams gets much mileage out of turning the innocent Giselle into a scheming stepmother. It's even funnier when she switches personalities back-in-forth. The highlight is when she and Malvina engage in a villain song duet, the best of Alan Menken and Stephen Schwartz's otherwise ok songs. The film beforehand felt like worn-out whimsy, but this picked it up and then some. If I had a sore spot with the screenplay, it's that it wasted a good opportunity to resolve the plot a few minutes faster. You'll see what I mean.

Morgan is a good dramatic center, even if the story fumbles it. A faulty circuit burns her clothes and her stepmom's ideal life isn't so. Her frustrations with Giselle are understandable. Her spell-induced happiness turns her into a different character, which makes the spell creepier. But when she's thrown into Andalasia, the spell reverses and she's essentially back again. But she remembers life in Monrolasia. Her reconciliation with Giselle is a strong moment, though.

Now for a few character highlights. Malvina, much like Giselle, hits her stride as a Fairy Tale Queen. She's equally funny and dangerous, especially by the final battle. Her toadies, Ruby and Rosaleen (Jayma Mays and Yvette Nicole Brown) are funny side characters. The wand's magic scroll (Alan Tudyk, reprising his Ed Wynn impersonation from Wreck-It Ralph) and returning chipmunk Pip (Griffin Newman), get some of the best lines. Robert and Edward are delightfully goofy, while Nancy gets a number that's sure to remind one of Frozen.

What else can I say? The production and costume designs are decent. Menken's orchestral score is good and the magical effects & 2D animation are great. It gets going well once you realize where it's going. That helped make its two-hours feel not so tedious. Overall, Disenchanted makes for a fine home matinee. If you disagree, at least you can pull up Enchanted on the same service. Either option's fine.