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Disenchanted

After 15 years, Amy Adams, Patrick Dempsey, Idina Menzel, and James Marsden are back for Disenchanted, the long-awaited sequel to 2007's Enchanted.

At the end of Enchanted, Giselle (Adams) found her happily ever after with lawyer Robert (Dempsey) and his daughter Morgan in New York. However, 15 years later, she realises such a concept doesn't exist in the human world and the family - now with baby Sophia in tow - is stuck in a rut.

Giselle believes the answer to their problems is relocating to the suburban town of Monroeville, which is very similar to Giselle's fairy tale home of Andalasia. However, this fresh start isn't the quick fix Giselle hopes for - Morgan (now Gabriella Baldacchino) dislikes her new school and Robert hates his commute. Giselle, wanting them to be happy, turns to a magic wand and wishes for a fairy tale life once again - but it's a big request. The spell backfires and ends up placing an evil curse on her.

Giselle is no longer the naïve, chipper young woman we met in the first film. She has changed a lot in 15 years! It's sad to see her so despondent in the beginning, but thankfully, the spell turns that around. The curse adds an interesting twist to the character and gives Adams more to sink her teeth into - watching her play both good and evil versions of Giselle is a lot of fun.

Dempsey has also been given a new angle to work with here. After the spell is cast, Robert becomes a dashing wannabe hero who volunteers to slay dragons and rescue people even though he's not good at it. He finally has the opportunity to sing this time, just like his co-star Menzel, who gets to showcase her musical theatre pipes as Nancy.

Marsden hasn't changed one bit as King Edward and you wouldn't want him any other way - Edward is hilariously silly in the human world and steals every scene he's in. It's a shame he's not in it more.

In terms of the newcomers, Maya Rudolph is perfectly wicked as Giselle's nemesis Malvina Monroe, while Yvette Nicole Brown and Jayma Mays play her hapless sidekicks.

The performances are ace all around, so it's disappointing that the story isn't executed very well and the final showdown is weak and anti-climactic. The idea for the narrative is solid but it doesn't deliver the goods, plus songwriters Alan Menken and Stephen Schwartz fail to produce memorable original songs. There are a couple of decent numbers in terms of the visual spectacle but the songs themselves aren't particularly special.

This sequel isn't the disaster it could have easily been but it doesn't come anywhere close to the beloved original.

On Disney+ from Friday 18th November.