Thursday, December 27, 2007

Movie review - Enchanted

*sigh* *sigh* *sigh* *sigh* Omg, Cutest. Movie. Ever. And possibly the best Disney (non-Pixar) movie for like...that last 10 years. Enchanted. Go see it.

Giselle (Amy Adams)
is a heroine from a Disney-esque cartoon world: she lives in a treehouse in a forest and her friends are talking animals. One day she falls into the lap of Prince Edward (James Marsden) while he's troll hunting and they decide to get married - hey, both of them have been searching for their True Love! His step-mother, Queen Nerissa (Susan Sarandon) is not quite so keen to lose her grip on power and to stop the wedding from going ahead, she sends Giselle to 'the place where happily ever after doesn't exist'...modern day NYC where she meets divorced divorce lawyer Robert Philip (Patrick Dempsey) and his daughter Morgan. And the story writes itself!

Regular readers of this blog will know that I love a movie that doesn't take itself too seriously.
All throughout the movie, Enchanted references classics of Disney past either through plot elements, costuming and character design, or flat out frame for frame recreations. Enchanted pretty much mocks the entire genre of fairytale romances as exemplified by Disney classics...bursting into song, animal friends, ridiculous dresses etc etc...but does it with such good-humoured glee, it never mocks in a nasty way.

For all the mockery, Enchanted is also homage. If you don't believe me on how good this movie is, watch this youtube clip.

It may pose as a cynical bitch but it's sooooooooooo not! It's a romantic dream! This movie is so good, it totally sucked in the entire audience in the cinema when we were watching it. There was loud laughing, people shouting out *KISS HIM/HER!!!*, cheers, applause, EVERYTHING!

A good deal of this is of course due to the performances. Amy Adams is fantastic! She is all wide-eyed innocence and utterly believable in her bewilderment and joy. Her Giselle is totally straight - you never get the feeling that she's an object of ridicule even when she's doing crazy fairytale things in the real world. In contrast is James Marsden's Edward who is ridiculous prince who can't see past his own fabulousness. And Patrick Dempsey...up to now I've always been a McSteamy girl (curse those charming bastards!) but I think McDreamy might have the edge now!

I love this movie. I walked out sighing happily waiting for my own Prince Charming/McDreamy.
9/10
(Photos from rottentomatoes.com)

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