Movie Review: Enchanted
Okay, this movie has been called “Disney making fun of Disney,” but I want to dispel that notion right off the bat. It’s not really “Disney making fun of Disney,” unless “Disney making fun of Disney” has been redefined to mean “Disney being exactly like Disney always is.” Which I’m pretty sure it hasn’t. And if I say “Disney” one more time in this paragraph (starting now), I will summon the unholy specter of the cryogenically frozen head of The Great Mouse Maker Himself (I know, I know; please don’t link me to Snopes in the comments).
This not necessarily a criticism, however. The movie’s cute, funny and I loved it a lot. It’s just not a parody, exactly. I mean, it gives it the old college try, but falls a little short in the execution. Allow me to explain:
It starts promisingly for a parody: Giselle is a not!princess in a fairy tale world, who has been banished to the forest to wait for true love’s first kiss because the evil Queen Narissa thinks that Giselle is somehow a threat to her throne. Now, honestly, I would think that the threat would actually be the queen’s step-son (idiot man-child Prince Edward), and not the random chick he married, but, hey, maybe the kingdom is a matriarchy (making it a queendom, I guess). Don’t look at me; it’s not adequately explained. I think this is part of the parody attempt and not just weird plotting, but I can’t be positive.
At this point, it’s really over the top and heavy on the references, so it works as a parody of other Disney movies, especially Snow White and Sleeping Beauty. Giselle and Edward finally meet (no thanks to animated Peter Pettigrew), fall in love on the spot and try to get married the next day. So, the evil queen pushes Giselle into a well that leads to New York, where there are “no happy endings.”
(As a quick aside, I really, really loved the animated character designs for the people of Andalasia. I would have much preferred for the entire movie to be animated [though I realize that would negate the entire point]. Sure, Amy Adams is adorable, but the animation looked so cool. So, Disney, if you want to do a direct-to-video sequel, Enchanted II: This Time It’s Personal, in which someone from our world falls into the animated world, I would totally rent and maybe buy it if it was in a discount bin.)
Once in the real world, the adorably clueless Giselle is rescued from the mean streets by Patrick Dempsey, the hot divorce lawyer whose character name I’ve forgotten (Robert, says IMDB, and I am eternally grateful). Giselle corrals some vermin into cleaning the apartment, has a cute, but overly long, song and dance number in the park, gives Robert advice on how to be romantic, and waits for Edward (who is wandering around New York being hilarious with animated Peter Pettigrew) to show up. And, in the meantime, falls in love with Robert.
This is about where the parody falls apart.
Disney romantic conventions are ripe for parody, and the movie tries, which I have to give it some credit for. Robert explains that love usually doesn’t happen in ten seconds flat, and maybe, just maybe, talking to someone may be a good way to get to know the person you marry. Prince Edward turns out to be a self-centered bore. Giselle attempts to rescue Robert from the queen, though it’s not really her actions that kill Narissa. Giselle also discovers lust, which I personally think is awesome. Disney princesses do not do lust. Jasmine pretended once, but even Esmeralda, a frequent object of lust, didn’t look at Phoebus like, “Yeah, I’m nailing that tonight.” Enchanted’s opening song posits that “lips are the only things that touch,” but Giselle discovers that she may be somewhat interested in touching Robert’s chest. And possibly other parts.
But the need for a traditional Disney happy ending undoes most of this, and in a major way. People don’t really need divorces! They just need to remember how their lover’s eyes sparkle! Your first kiss really is the most important kiss you'll ever have! Marrying someone 24 hours after meeting him is silly, but 48 hours is okay if you’ve had a date! But 24 hours is also okay if you’ve been dumped because the leads fell in love with each other!
It’s the subplot with Robert’s current fiancée that’s the creepiest. There’s nothing really wrong with Nancy; she’s just not a not!princess. It would be incredibly mean for Robert to leave her with nothing, so she’s married off to Prince Edward. Who’s been shown to be less than an ideal match. And I think they exchanged two sentences beforehand. And when Nancy and Edward run off to the animated world, Giselle takes over Nancy’s fashion studio (making easily marketable princess dresses for the 10 and under crowd! Visit your local Disney Store!). It’s a little weird, and maybe they just shouldn’t have given Robert a fiancée.
OKAY! That's the plot. Now for the actors.
Amy Adams is utterly adorable, and pulled off the real-life Disney princess impression perfectly. She was especially good in the big “How Does She Know?” dance number. Patrick Dempsey is really not my definition of hot, but lots of people find him so. Sorry, not a Grey’s Anatomy fan.
James Marsden continues to prove that it’s only when we can’t see his eyes that it appears that he can’t act. Plus, he sings and is goofy, and I'm easy like that. I guess I now need a doodle of Cyclops singing “True Love’s Kiss (JEAN!)” to go with the one I have of Wolverine singing “Oh, What a Beautiful Morning (JEAN!).”
Susan Sarandon was sadly under-utilized, but really awesome looking in animated form. She was like a hipper Maleficent (who is my favorite Disney villain re: costuming [I have a lot of categories for favorite Disney villains]), and I really liked the design of her crown.
One thing I’m not sure I understand is why they put Idina Menzel in their musical and then didn’t have her sing. If it was a regular old non-singing movie, I would have understood, but pretty much everyone except the Broadway star had a few lines of music in this movie. Color me confused.
My final note is this: if you’re looking for a Disney parody, this ain’t it. However, if you’re sad because there hasn’t been a good animated Disney movie in a while, this is a good movie to tide you over until that magical day when the animation department puts out something good again.
This not necessarily a criticism, however. The movie’s cute, funny and I loved it a lot. It’s just not a parody, exactly. I mean, it gives it the old college try, but falls a little short in the execution. Allow me to explain:
It starts promisingly for a parody: Giselle is a not!princess in a fairy tale world, who has been banished to the forest to wait for true love’s first kiss because the evil Queen Narissa thinks that Giselle is somehow a threat to her throne. Now, honestly, I would think that the threat would actually be the queen’s step-son (idiot man-child Prince Edward), and not the random chick he married, but, hey, maybe the kingdom is a matriarchy (making it a queendom, I guess). Don’t look at me; it’s not adequately explained. I think this is part of the parody attempt and not just weird plotting, but I can’t be positive.
At this point, it’s really over the top and heavy on the references, so it works as a parody of other Disney movies, especially Snow White and Sleeping Beauty. Giselle and Edward finally meet (no thanks to animated Peter Pettigrew), fall in love on the spot and try to get married the next day. So, the evil queen pushes Giselle into a well that leads to New York, where there are “no happy endings.”
(As a quick aside, I really, really loved the animated character designs for the people of Andalasia. I would have much preferred for the entire movie to be animated [though I realize that would negate the entire point]. Sure, Amy Adams is adorable, but the animation looked so cool. So, Disney, if you want to do a direct-to-video sequel, Enchanted II: This Time It’s Personal, in which someone from our world falls into the animated world, I would totally rent and maybe buy it if it was in a discount bin.)
Once in the real world, the adorably clueless Giselle is rescued from the mean streets by Patrick Dempsey, the hot divorce lawyer whose character name I’ve forgotten (Robert, says IMDB, and I am eternally grateful). Giselle corrals some vermin into cleaning the apartment, has a cute, but overly long, song and dance number in the park, gives Robert advice on how to be romantic, and waits for Edward (who is wandering around New York being hilarious with animated Peter Pettigrew) to show up. And, in the meantime, falls in love with Robert.
This is about where the parody falls apart.
Disney romantic conventions are ripe for parody, and the movie tries, which I have to give it some credit for. Robert explains that love usually doesn’t happen in ten seconds flat, and maybe, just maybe, talking to someone may be a good way to get to know the person you marry. Prince Edward turns out to be a self-centered bore. Giselle attempts to rescue Robert from the queen, though it’s not really her actions that kill Narissa. Giselle also discovers lust, which I personally think is awesome. Disney princesses do not do lust. Jasmine pretended once, but even Esmeralda, a frequent object of lust, didn’t look at Phoebus like, “Yeah, I’m nailing that tonight.” Enchanted’s opening song posits that “lips are the only things that touch,” but Giselle discovers that she may be somewhat interested in touching Robert’s chest. And possibly other parts.
But the need for a traditional Disney happy ending undoes most of this, and in a major way. People don’t really need divorces! They just need to remember how their lover’s eyes sparkle! Your first kiss really is the most important kiss you'll ever have! Marrying someone 24 hours after meeting him is silly, but 48 hours is okay if you’ve had a date! But 24 hours is also okay if you’ve been dumped because the leads fell in love with each other!
It’s the subplot with Robert’s current fiancée that’s the creepiest. There’s nothing really wrong with Nancy; she’s just not a not!princess. It would be incredibly mean for Robert to leave her with nothing, so she’s married off to Prince Edward. Who’s been shown to be less than an ideal match. And I think they exchanged two sentences beforehand. And when Nancy and Edward run off to the animated world, Giselle takes over Nancy’s fashion studio (making easily marketable princess dresses for the 10 and under crowd! Visit your local Disney Store!). It’s a little weird, and maybe they just shouldn’t have given Robert a fiancée.
OKAY! That's the plot. Now for the actors.
Amy Adams is utterly adorable, and pulled off the real-life Disney princess impression perfectly. She was especially good in the big “How Does She Know?” dance number. Patrick Dempsey is really not my definition of hot, but lots of people find him so. Sorry, not a Grey’s Anatomy fan.
James Marsden continues to prove that it’s only when we can’t see his eyes that it appears that he can’t act. Plus, he sings and is goofy, and I'm easy like that. I guess I now need a doodle of Cyclops singing “True Love’s Kiss (JEAN!)” to go with the one I have of Wolverine singing “Oh, What a Beautiful Morning (JEAN!).”
Susan Sarandon was sadly under-utilized, but really awesome looking in animated form. She was like a hipper Maleficent (who is my favorite Disney villain re: costuming [I have a lot of categories for favorite Disney villains]), and I really liked the design of her crown.
One thing I’m not sure I understand is why they put Idina Menzel in their musical and then didn’t have her sing. If it was a regular old non-singing movie, I would have understood, but pretty much everyone except the Broadway star had a few lines of music in this movie. Color me confused.
My final note is this: if you’re looking for a Disney parody, this ain’t it. However, if you’re sad because there hasn’t been a good animated Disney movie in a while, this is a good movie to tide you over until that magical day when the animation department puts out something good again.