“Enchanted” — A Movie Pulse Review

Genre: Comedy, Kids/Family, Science Fiction/Fantasy and Animation
Running Time: 1 hr. 48 min.
Release Date: November 21st, 2007
MPAA Rating: PG for some scary images and mild innuendo.
Directed By: Kevin Lima
Starring: Amy Adams, James Marsden, Idina Menzel, Susan Sarandon, Patrick Dempsey

The initial setup is so fantastically silly that the crabbiest of folks are bound to melt under the numbing gaze of Amy Adams naively flirty eyes and the reality-infused fairyland events and their concomitantly humorous circumstances. But the love triangle, the focus on separation of reality and fantasy, and a fearsome dragon are predicaments that the film’s reality aspects struggle to smoothly resolve, especially when fantasy was needed to instigate them in the first place.

The evil Queen Narissa (Susan Sarandon) becomes fearful of losing her kingdom of Andalasia to her stepson Prince Edward (James Marsden), should he ever find true love. When Edward suddenly announces his wedding with newfound beauty Giselle (Amy Adams), the wrathful sorceress throws her into a wishing well that transports her to present-day Manhattan. Completely contrary to the carefree, song-and-dance lifestyle of her colorful, happy home, Giselle is greeted with skepticism and unkind faces in New York as she desperately tries to seek help returning to her castle. Prince Edward learns of her disappearance, and jumps down the wishing well himself, aided by footservant Nathaniel (Timothy Spall), to rescue his true love. Giselle meets Robert (Patrick Dempsey), the only one who is amicable enough to help her, but he quickly finds that her cartoon-fantasy lifestyle is destroying the stability of his big-city life. When Narissa discovers that Giselle is dangerously close to rescue, she visits New York herself to ensure that she’ll never return to the magical kingdom of Andalasia.

The first half of Enchanted is exactly that - enchanting. Amy Adams wide-eyed innocent princess is dumped into the real world of New York where she is subjected to the harshness of reality. Basically, reality sucks. What’s so enjoyable is the hilarious naivety she exudes when dealing with people not of the cartoon world. Upon her meeting with Robert, she seeks a grassy meadow or a hollow tree to sleep in, she continually breaks out into fully choreographed songs and dance, and she summons the help of real-life rodents to help her do household cleaning - including rats, flies and cockroaches instead of cute little mice, birds and fawns. Adams is a constant delight to watch and Enchanted wouldn’t have amounted to much without her. Similarly, Edwards entertainingly fights hulking metal dragons (city buses) and masters the use of a magic mirror (a TV set) in his quest to save Giselle.

The second half of the film falls short due to the many conflicts that arise from mixing reality and fantasy when they are so clashed by live-action and animation. The introduction of many of the characters is as cartoons in a traditionally animated world and when thrust into the live-action New York, the script is unable to satisfactorily remove them. To further complicate matters, the love triangle between Giselle, Edward and Robert halts much of the later fantasy and comedy elements, and when the dragon finally appears, it’s evident that the younger audiences will be the only ones still wrapped up in all of the silliness. Ultimately, charm is eventually sacrificed for absurdity.

Susan Sarandon’s performance as the evil queen Narissa is the most over-the-top character, even painfully noticeable in a film that is clearly challenging plausibility. A poison apple plot makes an appearance, as does countless references to the most popular Disney animated features. Nathaniel’s supporting character is appropriate, although particularly generic, and the computer-animated chipmunk serves as little more than comic relief - although the audience is mainly forced to pity him.

Director Kevin Lima manages to squeeze in a shopping spree and a showy King’s Ball, but as the end draws near, “the place where there are no happily ever afters” is destined for a predictably happy ending. While we wouldn’t have wanted it to end in any other way, returning things to the way they were is utterly impossible, and the epilogue-styled afterwards is a bit too neat and tidy and unreasonably resolute. The film is a lot of fun for the audience it was intended for, and as a side effect, quite entertaining for adults, provided you can ignore the ridiculousness of the last half-hour.

- Mike Massie
SCORE = 6/10
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