There was a time, back in the early to mid-90’s when Disney still stood for great family entertainment, their run of classic animated films was peerless with the likes of Aladdin and The Lion King. Since then their stock has dropped considerably with lazy sequels and tie-ins and an undeniable drop in quality as they have stumbled into the world of computer animation to find themselves playing catch-up. Enchanted begins in classic Disney stile with old fashioned animation, it tells the story of Giselle, a princess who waits her prince so that she may be married. Sure enough they meet, but before they can say their vows her evil mother-in-law to be intervenes, sending Gisele tumbling down a massive well, on the other side of which she emerges in the real New York.
This fish out of water set up is the basis this clever and witty homage and tribute to those classic Disney films. Giselle’s cartoon character nature threatens to get her into trouble, until she is taken in by cynical but kind hearted Robert Phillip played by Patrick Dempsey with just enough edge to avoid over sentimentality. The rest of the film concerns itself with the rest of the animated characters coming to rescue Gisele, or in the case of Timothy Spall’s henchman Nathanial prevent her from coming back at all.
Pure and simply this film is a joy to watch, it is filled with a wonderfully sweet innocence and this is largely down to its very game cast. Amy Adams is the stand out with one of the greatest performances of the year, hands down. Her Giselle is not of this world, and manages to convey the luminance of classic Disney animated heroine’s without overselling it or verging into parody. She walks a tightrope and gets every moment spot on, she brightens up the screen and you can’t help but fall in lover with her. Equally James Marsden finds himself surprisingly at home in the world of comedy with his Prince Edward coming off wonderfully over the top and perpetually bamboozled by the real world.
The few songs there are in the film are very atypical and yet wonderfully catchy, you will be humming them for days and the way they are built and performed somehow fit into the film without feeling trite. The only real mis-step in the film lies with the ending and the last 10 minutes or so when the fantasy world threatens to overtake the more grounded aspects of the film, it’s something that will bug some and that others will have no problem with but for me it was a twist too far.
That said this is still a great film, charming and knowing and just instantly watchable it breathes new life into Disney and I’m sure it will become something of a traditional film to watch at Christmases in the future. If you can embrace your inner child and lose some modern cynicism then this could be just the pick-me-up so many of us need sometimes and a potent reminder of the magic that lies at the heart of the best stories.
Inventive, funny and charming this is a very easy film to love and one filled with enough in-jokes and satire to entertain adults as well as children. A reminder of the importance of Disney and hopefully a sign that an age of revival is upon us.
There was a time, back in the early to mid-90’s when Disney still stood for great family entertainment, their run of classic animated films was peerless with the likes of Aladdin and The Lion King. Since then their stock has dropped considerably with lazy sequels and tie-ins and an undeniable drop in quality as they have stumbled into the world of computer animation to find themselves playing catch-up. Enchanted begins in classic Disney stile with old fashioned animation, it tells the story of Giselle, a princess who waits her prince so that she may be married. Sure enough they meet, but before they can say their vows her evil mother-in-law to be intervenes, sending Gisele tumbling down a massive well, on the other side of which she emerges in the real New York.
This fish out of water set up is the basis this clever and witty homage and tribute to those classic Disney films. Giselle’s cartoon character nature threatens to get her into trouble, until she is taken in by cynical but kind hearted Robert Phillip played by Patrick Dempsey with just enough edge to avoid over sentimentality. The rest of the film concerns itself with the rest of the animated characters coming to rescue Gisele, or in the case of Timothy Spall’s henchman Nathanial prevent her from coming back at all.
Pure and simply this film is a joy to watch, it is filled with a wonderfully sweet innocence and this is largely down to its very game cast. Amy Adams is the stand out with one of the greatest performances of the year, hands down. Her Giselle is not of this world, and manages to convey the luminance of classic Disney animated heroine’s without overselling it or verging into parody. She walks a tightrope and gets every moment spot on, she brightens up the screen and you can’t help but fall in lover with her. Equally James Marsden finds himself surprisingly at home in the world of comedy with his Prince Edward coming off wonderfully over the top and perpetually bamboozled by the real world.
The few songs there are in the film are very atypical and yet wonderfully catchy, you will be humming them for days and the way they are built and performed somehow fit into the film without feeling trite. The only real mis-step in the film lies with the ending and the last 10 minutes or so when the fantasy world threatens to overtake the more grounded aspects of the film, it’s something that will bug some and that others will have no problem with but for me it was a twist too far.
That said this is still a great film, charming and knowing and just instantly watchable it breathes new life into Disney and I’m sure it will become something of a traditional film to watch at Christmases in the future. If you can embrace your inner child and lose some modern cynicism then this could be just the pick-me-up so many of us need sometimes and a potent reminder of the magic that lies at the heart of the best stories.
Inventive, funny and charming this is a very easy film to love and one filled with enough in-jokes and satire to entertain adults as well as children. A reminder of the importance of Disney and hopefully a sign that an age of revival is upon us.
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