About ten years after the events that occurred in the musical film Once upon a timebut 15 years later in real time, Giselle, embodied by an Amy Adams still as “Disney princess”, returns to the screen in once upon a time 2 (VF of Disenchanted), by Adam Shankman (hairspray). Here, the beauty full of optimism and joie de vivre is disenchanted. Like the title of the original version of the (too) feature film. In the image also of what these spectators will feel who had been completely enchanted by the ” feel good movie par excellence that was the first opus.
A quick hop to 2007. Giselle lives in the enchanted, animated 2D world of Andalasia, where her only goal is to find her prince so they can live happily ever after. Which doesn’t suit the witch on duty, who sends him off to a world where perfect love stories don’t exist. This is how Giselle arrives in a live-action New York where she meets Robert (Patrick Dempsey) and his daughter, Morgan. A romantic crossover later, the beautiful remains among us with Robert while “her” prince (James Marsden) returns to Andalasia in the company of Nancy (Idina Menzel).
Back to today. In a four-headed script that pulls on too many strings, Giselle and Robert are now parents to baby Sofia, and Morgan (Gabriella Baldacchino) has grown into a teenager. Deeming New York not suitable for their family, they move to the suburbs. Where the ” soccer mom places — embodied by Maya Rudolph, Yvette Nicole Brown (oh so underutilized), and Jayma Mays — make the ex-fairytale princess feel like she doesn’t belong. Giselle will have no other solution to fix things than to make a wish. She will thus endanger her own, her new world and her old one.
There was in Once upon a time a freshness, simplicity and naturalness that got lost along the way. The smile that clung to lips from the beginning to the end of the feature film disappears in this sequel, under the weight of an awkward gravity and surprises that are no longer there or have lost their magic.
But let’s give the team its due laurels: Amy Adams, her wondering gaze and fluttering hands, is still perfect as Giselle; as a valiant knight-prince of a fairy tale, James Marsden steals every scene in which he appears; Idina Menzel sings more than in her first appearance, and it’s more than perfect; Maya Rudolph plays big as a villain of service and in this, she adopts the dark colors of the witch who awakens in her; Patrick Dempsey and Gabriella Baldacchino perform their roles well. And then, the animation and the special effects are (of course) superb. Finally, there are all these nods to Mickey’s empire. We agree: they will delight the “disneyologist”… as much as they will annoy the critics of the omnipotent kingdom of the mouse.