Enchanted - A

I was blown away. The resurrection of the classic Disney princess has come to the big screen, and she’s respectable! Amy Adams plays Giselle, the fairy tale transplant tricked into coming to the awful city of New York. Her prince charming is the always lovable Patrick Dempsey. An ensemble of Timothy Spall (Wormtail, and from my recently reviewed Sweeney Todd) Susan Sarandon (as the evil stepmother) and Idina Menzel round out this great casting job.

If you are a parent I highly suggest this film for your enjoyment as well as your child’s. It’s witty, and the innuendo is clever enough to go over your kids head. The story is innocent, entertaining, and well…enchanting. Bill Kelly, the writer of such flops as Premonition, and Blast From the Past finally writes a good one. The plot is an interesting twist on a Disney classic. Our princess acts more like a heroine, showing the young aspiring princesses in the audience to be go getters, not just wait for Prince Charming.

The musical numbers are well placed and perfectly executed. My favorite was “That’s How You Know” filmed in Central Park. It begins with a bit of a Little Mermaid feel to it. Musicians and street performers come together to create a collaboration of expression, something I’ve always wanted to see in real life, but haven’t been lucky enough

The modernization of the classic princess/prince tale is well executed. Clever paraodies and situational humor make the transitions between musical numbers fun. Timothy Spall is a good bad guy (as stated in Sweeney Todd review) but he’s even better at being funny. Dempsey is Dempsey, and Idina is there for support. I was thinking she’d sing in the finale, but they let those legendary pipes lay asleep, as to not out do Amy Adams (probably a good call).

Stephen Schwartz (with Alan Berkin), the composes and writes beautiful music. The songs stayed in my head most of the day, just as the classics used to.

If you couldn’t tell I’m really happy about the success of this film. It’s already made back it’s budget (very rare in theatrical release) and will sing it’s way into the holidays I’m sure. About time too, the movies I saw as a kid were much better than what this generation has been subjected to. Though Pixar is a very welcome relief, films like Osmosis Jones, or Madagascar, are memorable to me because they are just awful! Kids need the classics, if they were to re release Aladdin, or the Little Mermaid, I’d be there without a hesitation. Stories are how we measure time, relate to people, and it starts as children. Please, if you have a young one who hasn’t seen this film, they really should (even the boys should know what a gentleman looks like. You can’t show them films like Hitman all the time.)