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 Rated: G
Enchanted commences
in the tried and true manner of an animated Disney film from their classic
period.
Directed by: Kevin Lima
Starring: Amy Adams, Patrick Dempsey, James Marsden, Timothy
Spall, Idina Menzel, Susan Sarandon |
Giselle (Adams) is about to be attacked by a troll, only to be
rescued by Prince Edward (Marsden). Her utopian fairy tale existence and
wedding are thwarted by the prince’s evil stepmother Queen Narsissa (Sarandan), who relentlessly pursues her in order to gain control of the kingdom.
Using her magic powers, the queen creates a magic portal that sends Giselle
through a sewer in New York City’s Times
Square.
Lost and confused, she runs into an ironically divorced
divorce-lawyer Robert (Dempsey), and his young daughter, who agrees to
take care of the bedazzled princess in their ritzy New
York apartment. What happens next is a kind of skewed
fairy tale check list of plot points. She is followed by a) the love-struck
Prince Edward in his quest to rescue her, b) the Queen’s henchman Nathanial
(Spall) in his quest to poison her, c) a faithful animal/rodent friend –
a chipmunk – named Pip who is unable to speak English as soon as he reaches the
real world and finally, d) the Queen herself.
Things really get moving when Robert’s own
bride-to-be finds Giselle walking around in a towel while the obtuse and
shallow, yet heroic prince doesn’t waste time trying to make sense of his
surroundings in search of his beloved bride to be. The entire affair ends in a
lavish ball (of course) and it is here that things depart from the norm as we find Giselle
has learned more than a few things about love and commitment from her time
against the cynical backdrop of New York City.
The film effects are top notch, the New
York setting ideal and a fine score with musical
numbers by Alan Menken, but it’s the casting that becomes the movie’s greatest
asset. The film works due to the charm of the characters and the movie-makers
choice to discriminate strictly on Disney material.
The performances are air-tight with Sarandan in an especially delicious scene-chewing turn at the final, and Adams’
portrayal as the heroine never strays from blissful innocence even as her character
develops self determination; while Marsden plays the prince with enough
endearment to avoid making him too buffoonish. Spall echo's his other henchmen-like performance in the Harry Potter series quite well without drawing heavy comparisons.
There are some truly inspired set pieces, including a classic
take off on the Snow White house cleaning spoof, complete with toilet washing rats,
cleaning cockroaches, laundry-sorting pigeons and a huge spontaneous musical
number in Central Park with happy-go-lucky New Yorkers chiming in and the
hapless non-singing dancing Robert fumbling along.
The only quibble would be a profound lack of edge. The
potential for cleverness and a darker tone is somewhat constrained by its G
rating. The villains are not completely ruthless and the whole affair is quite
predictable for older audiences but it makes up in charm and ironic vitality what
it lacks in the true ground-breaking nature of Disney’s earlier animation-live-action hybrid Who Framed Roger Rabbit.
It delivers more than enough entertainment value to please its intended audience.
This movie proves that the best fairy tales are about women
as the men are so darned uninteresting. This damsel in distress story works
even better when the damsel isn’t completely helpless, infusing the genre with
feminist ideals while steering clear of cloying worship to the artistry of a
studio that still, after all these years, hasn’t forgotten what cinema magic is
all about.
The DVD comes with an assortment of making of documentaries,
bloopers, deleted scenes and a pop up adventure involving Pip the chipmunk.
This Reviewer's Rating:    3.5 / 5
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