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Review: Charming 'Enchanted' Destined To Be Classic
New Disney Film Perfectly Crafted
POSTED: 9:56 am CST November 21,
2007
'Enchanted' (PG)
(out of four)Move over Snow White and Cinderella, there's a new fairytale princess in town destined to become a Disney classic."Enchanted" is one of those films that come along once in a decade and it is marvelously crafted by director Ken Lima (who is also the voice of a talking chipmunk named Pip), screenwriter Bill Kelly, and songwriters Alan Menken and Stephen Schwartz. The animated tale-turned-live-action comedy has all the elements of a movie that when eventually brought to DVD, will be one that's played over and over again in households with girls under 12.The film stars Amy Adams as the lovable Giselle. For the first 10 minutes, Giselle is an animated princess in typical Disney fashion. She lives in the storybook land of Andalasia where, like Snow White, birds, field animals, flowers and trees are in harmony with her. Kudos to Disney for poking fun at itself during the animated sequence, where Giselle sings a song that would fit Belle or the Little Mermaid, but with the cheese factor turned up a notch. She's longing for her prince and knows that with a song, he will be brought to her to complete the duet.In Andalasia, like every Disney classic, there is also a wicked queen, who has a tie to the prince who is searching for his maiden. In "Enchanted," it's Prince Edward who needs to be stopped in his tracks before he can answer Giselle's song. If Edward finds a mate, Queen Narissa forfeits her crown.In a nod to Snow White's wicked witch, she turns herself into a beggar woman and tricks Giselle into leaning over a wishing well. And with one fell swoop, Giselle pops up in the middle of Manhattan turned into a real, live woman.In typical fish-out-of-water fashion, Giselle searches Manhattan for someone to help a damsel in distress, but she's cast off as a New York crazy until a New York divorce lawyer and his daughter decide to help the unfortunate woman.Some fantastic scenes meld the fantasy and realistic worlds seamlessly.Adams is the perfect Giselle, who doesn't sugarcoat the innocent, but plays the role genuinely. She almost channels a young Julie Andrews from earlier Disney films. Susan Sarandon is at her wicked best as Queen Narissa and when she shows up as a live person in the middle of New York, it's a film spectacle to behold.Patrick Dempsey ditches his "Grey's Anatomy" McDreamy role for something more down-to-earth as the single dad who believes there's something truly genuine about Giselle, and James Marsden as Prince Edward is perfectly cast, looking like he popped out of a Disney storybook.Part animated film, part musical comedy, part old-fashioned princess story makes "Enchanted" a real charmer and a movie that will have quite a shelf life once the pixie dust has settled.
(out of four)Move over Snow White and Cinderella, there's a new fairytale princess in town destined to become a Disney classic."Enchanted" is one of those films that come along once in a decade and it is marvelously crafted by director Ken Lima (who is also the voice of a talking chipmunk named Pip), screenwriter Bill Kelly, and songwriters Alan Menken and Stephen Schwartz. The animated tale-turned-live-action comedy has all the elements of a movie that when eventually brought to DVD, will be one that's played over and over again in households with girls under 12.The film stars Amy Adams as the lovable Giselle. For the first 10 minutes, Giselle is an animated princess in typical Disney fashion. She lives in the storybook land of Andalasia where, like Snow White, birds, field animals, flowers and trees are in harmony with her. Kudos to Disney for poking fun at itself during the animated sequence, where Giselle sings a song that would fit Belle or the Little Mermaid, but with the cheese factor turned up a notch. She's longing for her prince and knows that with a song, he will be brought to her to complete the duet.In Andalasia, like every Disney classic, there is also a wicked queen, who has a tie to the prince who is searching for his maiden. In "Enchanted," it's Prince Edward who needs to be stopped in his tracks before he can answer Giselle's song. If Edward finds a mate, Queen Narissa forfeits her crown.In a nod to Snow White's wicked witch, she turns herself into a beggar woman and tricks Giselle into leaning over a wishing well. And with one fell swoop, Giselle pops up in the middle of Manhattan turned into a real, live woman.In typical fish-out-of-water fashion, Giselle searches Manhattan for someone to help a damsel in distress, but she's cast off as a New York crazy until a New York divorce lawyer and his daughter decide to help the unfortunate woman.Some fantastic scenes meld the fantasy and realistic worlds seamlessly.Adams is the perfect Giselle, who doesn't sugarcoat the innocent, but plays the role genuinely. She almost channels a young Julie Andrews from earlier Disney films. Susan Sarandon is at her wicked best as Queen Narissa and when she shows up as a live person in the middle of New York, it's a film spectacle to behold.Patrick Dempsey ditches his "Grey's Anatomy" McDreamy role for something more down-to-earth as the single dad who believes there's something truly genuine about Giselle, and James Marsden as Prince Edward is perfectly cast, looking like he popped out of a Disney storybook.Part animated film, part musical comedy, part old-fashioned princess story makes "Enchanted" a real charmer and a movie that will have quite a shelf life once the pixie dust has settled.Distributed by Internet Broadcasting. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
