DVD : Enchanted [2007]

Rating: - Saying This Movie is Enchanting is Just Too Easy
Giselle (Amy Adams) is your standard, run of the mill animated woman. Breaks out into song? Check. Carries on conversations with animals? Check. Dreaming of true love's kiss? Check.

Prince Edward of Andalasia (James Marsden) is also dreaming of finding his true love. At the orders of his evil step mother, the queen (Susan Sarandon), he is kept occupied chasing trolls. That is until one day when he overhears Giselle singing. Its love at first sight, and the two plan to wed the next day.

Step Mommie Dearest doesn't take this lying down, however. Disguising herself as an old hag, she pushes Giselle into a "magic wishing well" that will really destroy all her dreams by sending her to some place where dreams never come true - New York City.

Meanwhile, there's Robert (Patrick Dempsey). Robert is a single father living in New York City who is about to propose to his girlfriend of five years. A divorce lawyer, he is bitter and cynical.

When Giselle and Robert meet accidentally, Robert tries to get out of helping Giselle, but he can't seem to get rid of her. He can't decide what to make of this strange woman. And Giselle certainly doesn't get him or the real world.

But Prince Edward isn't taking the disappearance of his sweetheart lying down. He sets out through the magic well to find Giselle. As more and more fairytale characters keep coming to our world, what will happen? Will any of these characters ever be the same again?

This is such a unique film. It starts out with traditional 2-D animation. But as the fairytale characters enter New York, they become flesh and blood people. And that's when the spoofing really starts.

See, the characters expect the rules of their world to apply to ours. As a result, this movie does spoof certain Disney movie moments (and there are lots of references to those animated movies if you know what to look for). Yet the movie spoofs the genre in general more then any specific story, which makes things work well. In fact, one of my favorite moments was Giselle singing "Happy Little Working Song" as the animals in Central Park help her clean Robert's apartment. Yet this movie has its serious moments as it compares real life and fairytales. It never gets preachy and is very well done. The plot is fairly predictable, but it is a fairytale, so that's no surprise.

Robert and Giselle, as the two main characters, are the most developed. The others just aren't given any emotional development. And that's not a slight against the actors. Everyone does a great job. The animated characters are delicious over the top in our world, but it never gets annoying and works well. The animal characters usually look pretty realistic, but occasionally do look computer animated. Either way, it never really bothered me.

I wish I could stop here, but I can't. While this movie doesn't go overboard with them, there are a couple sexual references thrown in for the adults. Yes, they are funny. But they aren't exactly subtle. They may lead to some questions after the film is over, so be forewarned.

Having said that, this is a movie that parents and kids can certainly enjoy together. It's got a great theme and plenty of laughs and action. This movie will entertain anyone who watches it.

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Rating: - A truly unforgettable film!
I originally got dragged along to see this film and wasnt too enthusiastic to start off with, but from the opening credits the film is engaging, original and amusing, making it a truly addictive film.

It seems to mix comedy with seriousness, all over played by massive amounts of sweetness and goodness. Its perfect fun for all ages, as there are sometimes jokes even adults will be amused by.

all in all this has become one of my favourite films of all time, and is a truly memorable experience.
i cant wait until it comes out on DVD!

Oh and ladies, isnt patrick dempsey the perfect prince charming??!

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Rating: - perfect for the 10 & under crowd
Enchanted starts off as a cartoon- a princess has just found her prince charming, only to have his evil, power-grabbing mother (who doesn't want to relinquish her role as queen) banish her to a place where there are no happy endings.

Hello, New York City!

In Times Square Giselle sheds her cartoon skin to become flesh & bone. Well, a flesh & bone tribute to Disney, that is. It's corny, it's naive... and it's just about perfect for the 10 & under crowd, who cut their teeth on Cinderella & Snow White.

Giselle is taken in by a kind, divorce attorney (who doesn't believe in love despite the fact that he's about to be engaged) and his adorable young daughter. She gets magical with the help of New York City rats, cockroaches and grimy birds... even managing to make the sight of roaches scrubbing a bathtub almost, err, cute.

Hijinks ensue. A love triangle is formed. Evil queens make the scene. But as the final credits roll, rest assured that everyone lives happily ever after.

My 7 yr. old was, well, enchanted the entire time.

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Rating: - awesome
I have to say im not easily impressed by movies these days so I didnt expect much from this movie, but it was a refreshing change from a lot of the movies with the same old plot which have been released in the past few years. It was great to see something, which although was a bit cheesy, it was part of its charm and you couldnt help but fall in love with it, as the cartoon world and new york crashed together with style. The comedic timing was brilliant, and i'll definatly be buying my copy on dvd

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Rating: - One For The Girls
This is a fantastic Disney film. It starts off as ordinary cartton animation - a pretty girl in a forest dreams of marrying a prince but just before this happens the wicked step-mother to be pushes her down a well.

From here the film changes to normal actors and the princess finds she's fallen into a manhole in modern day New York. So she tries to find her way home while all the time everyone finds her really odd as she has all these strange Disney Princess habits such as talking to the pigeons. Anyway she meets a man and falls in love, etc. The prince from the cartoon world comes and tries to rescue her and the step-mother to be is trying to kill her. So all in all a fairly classic fairy tale.

But the switch from animation to acting made it more of a substantial film. I saw it at the cienema with my 6yo and would normally be a bit bored, but I loved this. Was interesting to see a lot of adults without kids were also watching it and seemed to be enjoying it. I think it would be too "princessy" for boys though.