HAPPILY N'EVER AFTER 2 (2009)

 

PHENOMENALITY: *marvelous*
MYTHICITY: *fair*
FRYEAN MYTHOS: *comedy*
CAMPBELLIAN FUNCTION: *psychological, sociological*

This silly sequel to an equally silly first film has a furshlugginer long subtitle that I'm not about to bother typing out. In my review of that film, which centered around the travails of Cinderella trying to find Mister Right, I noted that the movie was using a setup not unlike that of the SHREK films, though with the odd touch that in "Fairy Tale Land," the established events kept repeating themselves over and over until the villain interfered with the status quo. N'EVER 2 doesn't bother with that lame idea, but it suffers from the same lack of humor and good character design. In addition, no big-name voice actors appeared in this sequel, though I don't know that any stars would have improved things. However, one thing was a minor improvement: this time the fairy-tale heroine (Snow White, voiced by Helen Niedwick) does have a little potential at the start. 

As a child, Little Snow knows the entire fairy-tale kingdom loves her royal mother Grace and her middle-aged father (who's billed only as "King Cole," with no mention of the "Old" qualifier). Then Queen Grace passes away when Snow is still small. Years later, unlike the majority of Disney princesses, Teenaged Snow doesn't spend the rest of her life wanting to be a do-gooder. She's too busy being a teen queen and a trendsetter, hanging out at clubs with her similarly aged homegirls, Riding Hood, Bo Peep and Goldilocks. So for once, it's Snow's behavior that leads to her dad seeking re-marriage, as guidance for his unruly daughter.

Enter the homely Lady Vain and her equally unappealing daughter (though the daughter vanishes from the latter half of N'EVER 2). Vain uses the sorcery of a magic mirror to make herself look roughly like the late Queen Grace, beguiling Cole into becoming engaged to her. This slightly unlikable stepmother doesn't seek to have her stepdaughter killed, though. She gives Snow a magic apple that makes her blurt out nasty things about everyone in the kingdom, including her BFFs. I rather like her suffering "death by social media cancellation."

So the aggrieved Snow flees to the forest and finds her way to the home of the Seven Dwarves. The little guys not only teach Snow a good work ethic, they also instill in her the sincere desire to help people. Did I mention that back at her court, Snow had a thing for a young commoner who didn't like her conceited ways? Well, after Snow's learned the error of her ways, Handsome Commoner Guy calls her back to the kingdom and prevents the wedding of Cole and Vain. This of course presages Snow's own happy nuptials with Commoner Guy. Since Vain hasn't really committed any major crimes, she even gets a measure of forgiveness.

N'EVER 2 is a slight improvement over the first film. But like the first one, it's still not funny, nor attractive to the eye, while most of the fairy-tale cameos-- Humpty Dumpty, the Three Little Pigs, and Rumpelstiltskin (making a return from the first movie) -- are completely forgettable.