Movie Review: Disney's "Enchanted"

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"Enchanted" was a welcome surprise to see Disney create a movie as a satire to most of their fairy tales (as well as fairy tale princesses). Given current movie trends, I've expected most of these to come from the Shrek installment, which has by the way done a lot of spoofs on them already.

"Enchanted" features a new Disney "princess" named Giselle. By far prettier in animation compared to her real life counterpart (nonetheless, Amy Adams who plays Giselle is very attractive). The animation of Giselle though is a cross between Sleeping Beauty's Aurora and Little Mermaid's Ariel.

Anyway moving on, the movie starts off very simply in the archetype of most fairy tale introductions with the use of a... story book. In the land of Andalasia , in the typical Disney fashion all characters can and will sing in the hit melodies that Disney has never failed to provide. Giselle finds the prince of her dreams (as all fairy tales would have it). However when they are about to marry... (Alas!) the prince's evil step mother in disguise foils the ceremony by pushing Giselle into a magic well that takes her to modern-day Manhattan , specifically in Times Square.

If you're a fan of fairy tales and romantic stories, this is one for the books. Disney has maximized their library of fairy tales to come up with one that actually makes a mess of all the historical facts. Making it funny as well as ground-breaking. Disney has finally realized that sometimes to make the formula work, you'd have to work around it or view it from different angles.

What I liked about Enchanted:

• - The movie was refreshing and light. Pretty good viewing after a hard day's work.
• - The way it scoffs at the typical archetypes. There are a bunch of character twists in the movie, like Giselle becoming the rescuer instead of the damsel in distress, the talking squirrel, pip, being more of a hero than prince charming.
• - References to many familiar Walt Disney fairy tales. That was funny. Some may think this corny and it probably is, but when you're dealing with children, the more familiar the pot and the scenes, the easier it is for them to appreciate the story.
• - There was no profanity - when you have a child along, that's always good.
• - Amy Adams' portrayal of Giselle. She managed to get into character by being genuinely sincere and naive that she passed off as a nutcase in the real world.
• - The contrast between the simplicity of the fairy tale life and the complexity of the real world

What I didn't like about Enchanted:

• - The ending was a little shoddy. I don't want to give it away, but it could have been handled with a little more action.
• - The dragon in the end was the size of King kong but the voice was still that of Susan Sarandon's (who played the evil queen)

What my daughter liked about Enchanted:

• - The animal side-kick - a squirrel named pip who apparently is able to save the day all the time (more than the prince).
• - The songs which Disney is so famous for. It always brightens up her eyes and gets her interested in the film.

Moral lessons from Enchanted:

• - Things don't always go as planned. Life is no fairy tale and even this fairy tale didn't go as planned
• - Optimism is a good thing to have, but difficult to maintain when you're alone
• - You will always find someone to love or someone will find you. Its a matter of you being able to live with it

If in the event you disagree with all else here, you have to admit that having people break into song in the middle of New York City has to be funny. And for that you'll have to go see "Enchanted."