Il était une fois...

This is really the definition of "light entertainment," and seriously, I am still smiling about it now. After getting in the way of an Evil Queen, a fairytale princess is cast into an alternate reality--the real world as we know it--and must survive there until her rescue by her Prince Charming. Hmm! From the trailer I saw, my guess was that "Enchanted" was a one-joke show, a series of gags about how fairytale magic falls on its face in the real world. That Disney has managed to squeeze at least four or five good jokes out of the idea, and mixed in a few sprinkles of profundity on top of that, is something of an achievement. As a romp, it works fairly well, and it delivered quite a lot more than I was expecting.

This is a risky film to make, and Disney gets points for having the guts to unleash this oddity on the holiday season. It's a fun film that isn't afraid to go, occasionally, in weird and startling directions.

The intersection of the two worlds--the world of faith and magic, and the world of disillusionment and hard reality--creates the expected comedic drama at first. Then the two opposing realities begin to influence and change each other in unsettling and stimulating ways that may surprise the audience. The ideas aren't fully developed, but a crucial detail was attended to at the wrap-up that satisfied me--the main characters succeed mainly because they are able to grow beyond their previous conceptions of themselves.

Along the way of telling this story, we get to see a very challenging film production featuring two distinct worlds and their accompanying designs, and the intermingling of these two worlds. It's occasionally heavy on visual effects and animated sequences, but the effects are always story-driven and never gratuitous--a surprising enough thing nowadays that it's worth taking note of. Strong film-making skills, with an old-school sensibility, are at work.

My rating gets an extra point for an audacious, overblown MGM-style singing/dancing sequence, the kind that is rarely seen in theatres nowadays. Go see it!

My friends and I are big Disney fanatics, so we went to see Enchanted with open minds.

The movie's playful satire of the age of classic Disney animation is the best part. Even the title is written in the Gothic style shown in Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty. The animation and score (composed by Alan Menken...see The Lion King and numerous other 90s Disney movies) are simply the icing on the cake at the beginning. In the animation world the kids will be entertained and the teenagers and adults will chortle as they remember the overly-enthusiastic naiveness of the protagonists of early Disney films.

Giselle (played superbly by Amy Adams...this woman walks, sits down, does EVERYTHING in character. The innocent vitality she has for life at the beginning of the movie never wavers even when she experiences reality) is super excited to get married to her cliché Prince Charming (James Marsden, also wonderful. His range is incredible...I still can't believe he is also Cyclops and Corny Collins). Conveniently, Charming rides up on his white horse and saves her from a troll, and upon meeting her for the first time decides to get married the next day. But alas, the evil queen(Susan Saradon, who has a regrettably short part so I can't comment on her performance) knows that once Charming, her stepson, marries Giselle she will have to give up her throne to her stepdaughter. So she decides to trick her into a play "where there are no happily ever afters" by way of a magic well.

Patrick Dempsey plays a lawyer who grows skeptical of the subtle fantasy of living thanks to his own corroding marriage, but thankfully he meets Giselle who reminds him (through turning a daily stroll through Central Park into a musical Howard Ashman would be proud of) of the Disney magic in everyone! The movie is rather cute, but the singing and the happiness and the flowers get annoying (although still bearable) after about an hour. The score is better than the forgettable script...the jokes come from the performances, not the writing. I was mostly disappointed in the holes in the plot. Events that shouldn't have happened in reality were never explained (how did the queen's henchman keep disguising himself? How was Giselle able to swing herself up on a building after the queen?)...I know the movie's supposed to be a fantasy but the screenwriters should not completely alter the rules of reality when the point is to show the differences between the real and animated world.

The script is the biggest flaw. Frankly I think the cinematography could have been better too, especially in Giselle's scenes (more sweeping tracking shots of the scenery would have maintained the realism of the fantasy). But whatever. It wasn't a waste of a movie. Take the kids, and Disney fanatics will appreciate the attempt to recreate the classic animation age...but will notice some elements missing that makes this movie feel like it has less heart than it advertises.

'Enchanted' looks like a movie that a guy would never be seen at. C'mon, it's another Disney princess, and just looks pretty girly, right? Well, this is true. But it is funny enough to make both males and females enjoy a film where Disney pokes fun at their own masterpieces in the form of a Cinderella, Snow White, or Sleeping Beauty.

Princess Giselle leaves the cartoon world for the real world, and has a whale of a time adjusting to the harsh realities of a life other than "happy ever after." This is where the movie is at its best, as Amy Adams is very funny and cute playing a princess who must adjust to life in New York City while bringing her very own charm to the real world, and teaches lessons about true love while also learning important aspects of relationships from the man who is lucky- or unlucky?- enough to have found her.

The ending is kind of weird, but that's not to spoil a movie that is for the most part refreshing in its premise and delivers plenty of genuine laughs. 3/4 stars

I'm a teenage boy, and the reviews for "Enchanted," along with some friendly persuasion from my sisters, moved me to give this live action/animated combo. a chance. In the first fourteen minutes of Enchanted, there were two things that caught my attention: 1)The never-ending, sugar-coated, sing-along tune and 2) The grainy style of animation that Disney lavished upon the screen(a tribute to the Disney classics, such as Beauty and the Beast and Sleeping Beauty); in this time span, I felt truly embarrassed to be sitting in the theater with the older couples clustered around me. I mean, what kind of boy in his right mind would want to watch a movie with musical numbers and pretty princesses? And yet, there was something about it...the aire of it almost took me back to the days of my childhood when I would smash my face up to the T.V. screen, when Belle and the Beast were having their unforgettable ball dance or when Ariel was brushing her hair with a fork. It was these sorts of memories that surfaced to my mind as I kept watching Enchanted. And it kept getting better and better. When there was a sudden switch to live-action, my heart was captured by Amy Adams, who seems to be, in my opinion, the finest choice for Giselle. Prince Edward and Robert also had their perfect fits (James Marsden and Patrick Dempsey). Even though this movie is close to perfect, it still has its problems. There is an aire of predictability in the storyline, as well as the fact that it's swamped with clichés (some of which are fresh, and some of which are flat). Yet it flows on, innocently, with its strong actors/actresses, decent-enough screenplay that gives you a warm feeling in your heart (which is what Disney is supposed to do, right?), spectacular music numbers that have charm, and the fact that it is suitable for all ages. There is a little something for everyone in this film--and it's not just a film either--it is a time-machine back to the golden era of Disney's animated films, and its live-action ones as well. And it helps me look forward to the new Disney: one that keeps surprising me more and more every single day.

Combining elements of modern day Manhattan with romanticized fairy tale settings, "Enchanted" tells the story of Giselle (Adams), your typical Disney leading lady living in a cottage, singing with innocent creatures, awaiting the day she would meet her prince charming. He turns out to be Prince Edward (James Marsden), a dashing debonair who happens to be the stepson of the wicked witch Queen Narissa (Susan Sarandon). They meet, fall in love in a whim, and decide to marry the next day.

Problem is, step-mom wouldn't allow anyone to take over her throne so she poses as an old woman and pushes a clueless Giselle into a well that transports to - ahem - our world, where her quixotic perspective sets her apart from everyone else. Her city misadventures eventually lead her to Robert (Patrick Dempsey), a divorce lawyer separated from his wife and trying to raise his daughter Morgan (Rachel Covey) by himself.

While awaiting to be rescued by her Prince Edward, Giselle bonds with father and daughter, with him teaching her a thing or two about dating, and her teaching him on the positive aspects of love.

While obviously an attempt to satirize the genre it carved its name on, this Disney flick helmed by Kevin Lima does it in a way that's not in a mocking manner as Dreamworks animated films usually are. Rather, they are handled with affection that makes the fairy tale angle a rather sweet and funny affair. The interweaving elements of live-action and animation blend alright and don't feel unbalanced.

Of course, you can say that this movie really belongs to Adams, who with her cheerful nature, makes it easy for one to feel for her character by providing depth and giving an additional dimension to Giselle. The supporting cast pale in comparison although they do have their moments, especially Sarandon who easily hams it up during a climactic event.

"Enchanted" doesn't necessarily mark a return of the old fairy tale magic conspicuously absent in recent Disney films; but it has the charms and clever wit - not to mention star Amy Adams bubbly charisma - to win over audiences outside the target demographic.