Reviews of Enchanted

Enchanted and enthralled...

Posted : 1 year ago on 29 October 2008 01:25 (A review of Enchanted)

''I seek a beautiful girl. My life partner, my one coquette, the answer to my love's duet.''

A classic Disney fairytale collides with modern-day New York City in a story about a fairytale princess who is sent to our world by an evil queen. Soon after her arrival, Princess Giselle begins to change her views on life and love after meeting a handsome lawyer. Can a storybook view of romance survive in the real world?

Amy Adams: Giselle

I was following Enchanted for a while appreciating the very original concept and design at it's heart. Disney succeeds and then some.
Enchanted was a refreshing taste of comedy and the happily ever after formula. It did not follow the usual sappy result fortunately.
However, I won't reveal what happened because you need to find out.
Personally very much enjoyed this turn of events, to the typical plot contrivances for this genre. The comedy seemed like it could appeal to all age ranges.

The makers packed in many jokes perfectly into the plot. Not once did the comedy seem crass or even bizarre, almost every joke was funny. Very many parts of the old fairy tales were used in some parts of the plot, such as Snow White, Cinderella, and Sleeping Beauty. However they were used in such a stylistic manner that it all seemed to seamlessly blend together with the rest of the story. The villains were very despicable, and the good guys were very lovable. Overall the plot was very solid and very well written. It carried all the magic and the entertainment factor of all the classics before it.

''Remember, when you go out not to put too much makeup otherwise the boys will get the wrong idea and you know how they are...''

The sound mix was surprisingly good considering the film's Genre. Once again, another engrossing quality of the film. Skywalker Sound really does a good job with every film the do the sound mixing for. There were many ambient effects from all around the theater perfectly placed, which added a sense of depth to what was on screen.

The Visual effects were very well done. There was one sequence that involved a massive dragon roosting at the tip of what I think was the Chrysler Building. The dragon seemed very believable, and the digital rain and lightning in the scene reflected very well off of the dragon's scales. I have no nitpicks here.

''Everybody has problems. Everybody has bad times. Do we sacrifice all the good times because of them?''

Performances are top notch. We get to see some amazing characters.
Amy Adams as Giselle is lovely, charismatic and really uses her voice to blast her character into new levels of masterful likability.
Patrick Dempsey as Robert Philip, Man Of Honor star, Grey's Anatomy heart throb gives us a likable, ordinary every day New York man hero.
James Marsden as Prince Edward, X-Men & Superman Returns star, surprises us with an over the top prince intent on getting his bride to be.
Timothy Spall as Nathaniel, Spall seems to have a penchant for these kind of movies, whether it be Sweeney Todd or Harry Potter, he is a fascinating actor who breathes life into his respective characters.
Susan Sarandon as the Queen Narissa, presents us with a very good nemesis yet I do find she was under used in the movie apart from the use of her voice. But she was a menacing presence.

Along the way of telling this remarkable story, we get to see a very challenging film production featuring two distinct worlds and their accompanying designs, and the interweaving these two worlds. It's occasionally heavy on visual effects and animated sequences as stated before, but the effects are always story-driven and never overly gratuitous.
A surprising enough thing nowadays that it's worth taking note of. Strong film-making skills, with an old-school sensibility, are in play making this a must see for adults and children alike.

''You look... beautiful.''

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fairy tale

Posted : 1 year, 5 months ago on 25 May 2008 10:08 (A review of Enchanted)

Giselle (Amy Adams) finds herself in Manhattan and is befriended by Robert (P. Dempsey) and his daughter Morgan. Meanwhile, Edward's mother (S. Sarandon) will stop at nothing to keep Gisell from ending up with her son. So... will Edward (J. Marsden), Giselle's true love, find her? And is Edward truly Giselle's true love?

A very entertaining romantic fairy tale, with splendid acting from all, especially Amy Adams. She clearly has a lot of talent, in acting and singing. Susan Sarandon is especially vicious as the stepmother. Marsden and Dempsey are fantastic too.
Nice directing. Good photography.
The transition between animation and "reality" was interesting and well done.
The songs are rather kitsch, it is a movie for children mostly, so what else is to be expected?

Enjoyable for all.


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Corny, but funny.

Posted : 1 year, 8 months ago on 13 March 2008 04:51 (A review of Enchanted)

When walking into the theater, you can't but expect this movie to be corny. And it is. The mere fact that the Prince decides to marry Giselle after just learning her name provides proof enough. It was strange to view transitions between animation and reality, but it did it well. The prince was quite a character himself, and added alot to the movie. The squirrel, named "Pip", is a sidekick with a very annoying accent (which fortunately leaves when he travels to the real world ;]) but really doesn't add as much comedy as you might think a talking chipmunk might add.

Anyway, Patrick Dempsey does a wonderful job playing Robert, as does Amy Adams to Giselle. Me being a guy, there was quite a bit too much singing going on, but it still retained its comical theme. The best part of the movie, IMHO, would be after a song when a pigeon leans over and eats a cockroach. The Jamaican band following them around is also quite funny, and the fact that everyone, including the construction workers, joined in and danced was a very funny sight.

It was a pleasant surprise also to find that Nancy, Robert's girlfriend, was not evil, as first portrayed, and also got a happily ever after. It's also funny how Nathaniel -played wonderfully by Timothy Spall- picks up on all of the nuances of the real world, including selling candied apples, pizza, etc, when the prince and Giselle are clueless to everything. The bike scene that others thought was hilarious, I found to be annoying at best, probably because of stupid Disney 411. (CURSE YOU, SURFERS!) I did like, however, the scene with the bus, and probably my favorite line from the movie was "Nobody stabs my bus!"
The CGI for Pip is ok, but for the dragon is quite laughable. The queen made more lame jokes in the last 10 minutes of the film that anyone else made the entire movie. The ending is a corny, fairy tale ending, to be expected.

All in all, it's still a wonderful movie....for kids and hopeless romantics. You'll be pleasantly surprised by the comedy in this film, and it still retains its family friendliness. I give it a good 4/10.

~Dok

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Disney can be fun

Posted : 1 year, 8 months ago on 5 March 2008 04:51 (A review of Enchanted)

I actually really liked this movie. At first I wanted to watch it with my friends mostly as a joke, but I ended up watching it alone, and lucky was that because I really enjoyed it. The opening with the classic disney cartoon was just fantastic. Then they can to NYC, and Amy Adams came to life. She is just really heartwarming and funny as the soon to be princess. Patrick Dempsey seem a bit out of place but he gets the job done. The chipmunk is funny but it feels like almost every animated movie have a funny little cute animal sidekick these days. The prince is funny aswell. The musical numbers are great. The evil queen is ok. My only real problem with the movie is the ending. First the final boss fight ends really abruptly, and then they all live happily ever after. A better ending would have earned it a 9/10 from me.

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Delightful

Posted : 1 year, 11 months ago on 26 November 2007 04:43 (A review of Enchanted)

Enchanted puts its own spin on the classic Disney princess story with great charm and humor.

The characters were all well cast with Amy Adams being the standout - being likable and innocent without being cloying.

And the musical numbers that you would expect from any Disney movie are a treat. I dare you not to sign along when Giselle starts singing "That's How You Know".


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