Enchanted more then lives up to its name and good reviews. The movie opens in classic Disney fashion: the opening of a fairy tale book along with narration, by none other then Disney legend Julie Andrews.
You are then taken into the beautifully hand drawn world of Andalesia where you meet Giselle, a sweet and beautiful maiden living in a forest singing about finding true love's kiss. Then enters Prince Edward (James Marsden), riding horseback in the forest hunting trolls and when he hears Giselle's voice he finds her and they ride off into the sunset to be married.
It seems like the movie has reached its happy ending, until the evil queen (Prince Edward's stepmother) changes herself into an old hag and pushes Giselle down a well and into New York city, a place "where there are no happily ever afters" according to evil Queen Narissa (Susan Sarandon). Giselle then enters the real world as played by Amy Adams who completely embodied the persona of Snow White, Sleeping Beauty and Cinderella all rolled into an adorably naïve and idealistic fairy tale princess.
Amy Adams performance is flawless and she manages to play the role without making it a complete mockery, you actually feel like you are watching an animated princess. The other characters are played well, but are not nearly as outstanding as Amy Adams. The penniless and out of place Giselle is then found by 6-year old Morgan Phillip (Rachel Covey) and taken in by Morgan's father, a New York divorce lawyer and single dad named Robert (Patrick Dempsey) who is soon to propose to his girlfriend of 5 years, Nancy (Idina Menzel). Soon everyone from Prince Edward and Pip (the side-kick squirrel) to evil Queen Narissa make their way from Andalesia to the streets of New York.
There are plenty of moments in the movie that let you relive great moments from past Disney movies, but I won't give them away so you can enjoy finding them on your own.
Being a fan of the 'true love conquers all' genre of Disney movies I was apprehensive that Enchanted would spoof classic Disney and the theme would be parodied to the point that it was lost. However Enchanted shows that true love still does conquer all and there are happily ever afters, even in cynical New York City. This is the first movie in a long time that I left the theatre with a smile in my heart.
If you like classic Disney fairy tales you will adore Enchanted.
