Hola all. Massawyrm here.
At first glance, Enchanted looks like a by the numbers, lame re-do of the old Princess dropped into the real world shtick. We've seen that dozens of times – whether it be a rich bitch or actual royalty, this is a long running theme so beaten into the ground that Fox went so far as to squeeze three seasons of a reality series out of it. And Fox is like that ugly guy on the football team – once he gets himself a piece of something, you know his buddies have all had a go already. It's been done. Hell, if there were fairy tale jokes left, Shrek long since mined them out for their second film before they swept the floor for anything left to make the third. So why in God's name would somebody want to do it again?
And that's exactly how I felt for the first 10 minutes of this movie. There was nothing new. Nothing to smile or smirk at. Just all the usual set up. Adorable but naïve princess. A lovable dad without a wife. An adorable 6 year old girl who is never obnoxious and says the cutest things. Sigh. But then, out of NOWHERE, James Marsden gets shot out of a manhole and the whole movie changes. Because it is at this point that Enchanted begins to show its hand. How on earth could they make this film different than every other one before it? By making the poor little rich girl, this princess from a magical land, still magical – in defiance of the laws of nature.
You see, what works with Enchanted is the conceit that all of the princess's patented DISNEY ™ powers…still work. Everything she did off in her animated fantasy land, work just fine in New York City. With the occasional twist. And those twists take this from simply being a cute twist, to being downright funny as hell. There are a few sequences in here that are positively classic, a few jokes that really are their own thing and something this film will be known for for years to come.
But while this is busy being hilarious, it is also being as cute and cuddly as you'd expect from this kind of Disney film. It's wholesome, genuine entertainment that is meant for the whole family. It's romantic, fun, endearing and knows just when to exit as to never overstay its welcome. And at the same time there is a definite intelligence behind it, seeding a number of subtle jokes throughout, including a large number of Disney references. Yet they manage to avoid too many direct jokes. Not everything works, of course, and a few jokes failed to hit, but overall the audience, which included a number of usually stone faced critics were rolling, especially during a few key sequences.
Amy Adams is great. She plays the naivety to the hilt and always manages to win the audience back from her antics with an adorable look or reaction. Jokes that shouldn't work totally do coming out of her mouth. And when she isn't busy owning the film, James Marsden is. This guy never ceases to impress me. I've begun to see just how short end of the stick he was cast as Cyclops in a series of X-Men films that never really cared that much for Cyclops. The guy has an incredible amount of talent and is quickly becoming one of the most reliable supporting actors out there.
If you're spending time with family this week and need something solid and family friendly to take everyone to, there's really no reason not to see this. This is the single best live action movie Disney has put out since The Princess Diaries and is easily the best live action family film we've seen all year. If your daughter or kid sister is hassling you to see this, score a few points, take her and end up having an excuse to see something you are surprisingly going to enjoy. Recommended to anyone who can enjoy a family film and HIGHLY RECOMMENDED to anyone looking for something to take the family to this week.
Until next time friends, smoke ‘em if ya got ‘em.
Massawyrm
Oh yeah, and Happy Thanksgiving. May you find yourself as stuffed as the turkey.
