The nice thing about having a 5 year old niece is that you can occasionally sneak into a kid’s movie that you secretly want to see but could never work up the courage to go watch alone.
Enter Disney’s latest offering, Enchanted.
I got the opportunity to watch this movie on my Thanksgiving break (one of the few times I actually get to see my niece). I had to watch it in a tiny little cinema which has only 6 screens and services a town of 6000.
I know, I know. How could I possibly survive that?
Anyway, on to the movie. It starts out as a parody of any given Disney movie.
Giselle is our generic Disney heroine who has her dresses made by chipmunks and desperately dreams for her one true love to find her. We know this, because she has the uncanny knack of breaking out into song on this topic at a moment’s notice.
Unlike most Disney movies, however, her prince finds her in the first 10 minutes. The wicked stepmother of the prince (that’s a change, at least) hates this idea, and makes sure Giselle gets sent to the ‘real’ world through some magic fountain she keeps in her courtyard.
Yada, yada, yada, Giselle falls in love with the ‘real’ world and Dr. McDreamy. Cyclops shows up dressed like an idiot and slays a bus. Good times ensue.
This isn’t a bad movie. It definitely has a few laughs, and Amy Adams manages to bring Giselle to life straight from animation without missing a beat. It’s really her that brings this movie together at all.
The writing lacks a lot of irony and satire that it could have brought in, opting for straight laughs and obvious plot devices. I would have expected this movie to be more like Shrek in giving shout-outs to all of the Disney princesses before it, but it steered clear of that route.
Although this takes away some of the wit and edge the movie could have, this simplistic approach also makes it sort of endearing. It is a straight story, with a straight message, and a plot that a 5 year old can understand.
This isn’t a comedy that is aiming to play on many levels like Shrek. This is a movie meant for kids with some genuinely funny moments and an extremely charismatic leading lady.
I wouldn’t rush out and see it if you don’t have kids, but if you’re flipping through the channels one day and you’ve got nothing else to watch, you could do worse than Enchanted.
Verdict: B-
I actually thought Enchanted was quite good. The plot was somewhat original and it was just a curiously uplifting movie that made you believe (at least for a moment) that dreams can come true. I give it an A.