Enchanted

Enchanted is a twist on the old tales of the damsel in distress and Prince Charming. This movie combines traditional animation in one part, and live action in the other. The animated characters are thrust into our world- a world that is certainly no fairy tale.

Amy Adams stars as Giselle, the aforementioned damsel. She is all set to marry her Prince Edward (James Marsden), even planning him rescuing her in distress. On her wedding day, however, Queen Narissa (Susan Sarandon) pushes her into a well that transports her to modern day New York. Edward soon follows, as does Nathaniel (Timothy Fall) close friend of the prince, but secretly a toady for the Queen. In New York Giselle meets Robert Phillip (Patrick Dempsey) and his daughter (Rachel Covoy). Apparently he's also McDreamy to her, because she begins questioning her relationship with Edward, and her whole concept of love.

I really enjoyed this movie. It was cute, and was certainly not your typical approach to a fairy tale- live action or animated. It deals with the characters questioning themselves, and it doesn't turn out how any of them expect. Of course there are the obligatory gags found in any fairy tale. Forest critters help Giselle clean Robert's apartment, Edward slays a formidable beast- which turns out to be a bus, and the poison apple is replaced by a poison appletini. Perhaps best of all is the role of Edwards furry side-kick- a squirrel that, logically enough, loses his ability to talk and sounds like a squirrel in the real world. Little self-conscious tidbits like this really made the movie.

Enchanted kept me entertained throughout- something that is becoming ever increasingly difficult to do. And there's little doubt in my mind that the plethora of gags, and lovely animation will keep young and old audience entertained. It combines sight gags, with mature innuendos that may be inappropriate, but are also above the heads of young children. This is a difficult line to tread, but Enchanted does it quite well.

Director, Kevin Lima, brought years of Disney experience to the table, most notably being a character designer on Oliver and Company and the Little Mermaid. Enchanted thankfully keeps that Disney style alive, even with their 2D department currently closed. But of course, that's not all that holds this movie together. As with any good movie, the story is king. In this movie, the royal family of story, acting, and animation are all enchanted.

3.5/5