2 reviews

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Andrea Hopkins December 18, 2007

This is tremendous fun, though they did put seven out of ten of the funniest moments into the trailer. But it is well-written, and the first half hour is full of delicious jokes, mostly at the expense of Amy Adams's wide-eyed innocent princess, who is chiefly notable for her uncanny ability to persuade urban fauna to do the cleaning, and make fabulously pretty dresses out of curtains before breakfast. After that some actual drama takes over, as princess Giselle finds herself experiencing emotions other than happiness for the first time, and rather falling for Patrick Dempsey's dishy divorce lawyer. Scrumptious James Marsden is also very watchable as Prince Edward, nostrils flaring as he capers about Manhattan spearing buses in his tights and giant puffy sleeves. Wonderful Susan Sarandon was rather under-used as the wicked queen. I'm not quite sure why this movie was given a PG certificate - if tiny tots can stand the real Snow White, they can certainly stand this - even the dragon that Queen Nerissa turns into is rather cute, and not in the least frightening. My 11 year old daughter pronounced it Brilliant! - for me too it was hugely enjoyable - if you are the proud owner of a small girl you should get along and see it.

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Glenn Watson December 11, 2007

Do Christmas the Disney way - with a fairy tale of New York that has nothing to do with The Pogues. Enchanted sees Disney having a laugh at its own expense as a fairytale princess falls into modern day New York. And it’s a cracker.

Poking fun at the studio’s classics – Snow White and Sleeping Beauty – tweeting birds, talking animals and saccharine songs are given a sly makeover as Giselle’s animated world collides with street-smart New York.

Princess Giselle (Amy Adams) leads a charmed life in the animated world of Andalasia, talking to the birds, singing her heart out, falling into the arms of her Prince Charming (James Marsden, Superman Returns). But when evil queen Narissa (Susan Sarandon) pushes her down a wishing well, Giselle ends up in modern day America. Cynical lawyer and single dad (Patrick Dempsey, Grey's Anatomy) is non-plussed and takes her in, to the chagrin of his girlfriend and the delight of his daughter.

Prince Charming dives to the rescue, along with Giselle’s chipper chipmunk pal. But the wicked queen and her henchman Nathaniel (Timothy Spall) are soon in pursuit. Giselle’s amazed that people don’t burst into song. The talking chipmunk can only go ‘eeep’ in the real world. And the Prince thinks buses are dragons. With everyone’s world turned upside down, there’ll be music and mild mayhem before it’s put right.

Enchanted will wow the girly girls in the audience. But it works a spell on hard hearts too. The full-on whimsy of the animated opening catches you off guard – is this is just another Disney sugar fest? Nope. Tipping the heroine into the modern day world, the story clips along with a comic flair that’s hard to resist.

Back home, Giselle would sing to the birds as they swept the house together: trying it in the city, its sewer rats that answer the call. And when chipmunk and the chirpy Giselle are reunited, a smoochy moment causes an onlooker to cry out “it’s chewing off her face!”

Get past her initial whininess and Adams is fantastic as Giselle, nailing the Disney-innocence with great comic timing, perfectly matched by Dempsey’s down-beat lawyer. And Prince Charming (actually called Edward) is neatly played, his would-be heroics collapsing into amusing pratfalls.

Subtly done, Enchanted is almost unsettled by a Ghostbuster style climax that piles on the special effects. But overall, this is a class act, with catchy music, clever comedy and characters to care for. Okay, it’s not actually a Christmas movie, but this is one Disney fairytale to sing about – even if you’re The Pogues.