"Disenchanted"

Let's face it, the original "Enchanted" was not a perfect film.  It had terrific moments -- mostly that amazing dance number in Central Park -- but Patrick Dempsey and Amy Adams had zero chemistry.  And the ending was ... stupid.  In my humble opinion.  But it was sweet and fun and a movie which wasn't too taxing.  So here we are fifteen years later, with a sequel.  Like the original there are good moments and the whole thing was a decent way to spend two hours.  But it's what I call a "cotton candy" film.  It is watchable but quickly after viewing it just fades away into nothing.  And it's smaller, somehow, than the original.  It feels more like a TV movie than something one would put on a big screen.  Amy Adams is, as in the first film, the one to watch.  Her singing, which was tenous in the first film, is strong and confident here (and Patrick Dempsey still can't sing but gets a quick Rex Harrison/"My Fair Lady" moment, speaking his way through a verse of one song).  Ms. Adams also makes her transitions from sweet heroine to evil villian with a smoothness which is impressive.  And the chipmunk is cute.  The chipmunk is always cute.  The supporting cast ranges from the brilliance of newcomer Gabriella Baldacchino taking over the role of Morgan, to an surprisingly subdued performance by Maya Rudolph.  Ms. Rudolph's been working a lot lately, and I have to say she has been better in everything else I've seen her in than she is here.  Her character's minions are more entertaining and interesting than Rudolph's evil queen character.  There are more songs in this film than in the first one but the volume of musical numbers does not make for better.  Unlike "That's How You Know ..." there is no breakaway hit.  There are two decent pieces, one being young Morgan's "Beauty and the Beast" ripoff and the other is a duet between the two evil queens, "Badder".  (Yes, there are a ton of Disney classics easter eggs here).  Weirdly, diva Idina Menzel sings hardly a memorable note in the whole thing.  There are also strange paradoxes.  Disney tries to recognize how feminism has impacted the world by having the evil queen ask her mirror who is the most powerful of all, rather than who is the prettiest of them all.  That being said, there is concerted effort to make the female actors look liked they have hardly aged in 15 years but no effort to hide the men's aging (and both Dempsey and James Marsden, who plays Edward, are in desperate need of a shave).  Giselle's clothing company, shown at the end of the first film, isn't mentioned.  She has returned to being a Samantha-level house-frau, who worries about burning toast or fitting in with the committee moms at the local school.  So much for feminism.  All of these criticisms are picayune.  This isn't meant to be a classic.  It's meant to entertain.  And it does.  Play it in the background while wrapping packages.