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Enchanted Movie Review

Enchanted is a 2007 live-action/animated musical film from Disney directed by Kevin Lima and starring Amy Adams. It’s one of the studio’s greatest hybrid movies.

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“Thank you for taking care of my bride, peasants“

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It follows a Disney Princess who is thrown into the real world from her animated kingdom. She searches for her prince, but falls in love with another man instead. The premise is ingenious, and this idea was so clever, and the execution was so great that it ended up being one of Disney’s best stories, and one of their most underrated. It got great reviews, but it needs to be included among their absolute classics.

The film makes many references to Disney classics, but from the earlier years such as ‘Snow White’, ‘Cinderella’ and ‘Sleeping Beauty’ in particular. Though those references can be a bit aggressive at times, they are mostly just a lot of fun, and they act as small quirks included to satisfy the Disney geeks, and I was very pleased with them.

Enchanted, unlike ‘Frozen’, manages to successfully make fun of Disney conventions of the past while also updating them and honoring them at the same time. Although at times it was obvious in that regard, for the most part I appreciated how it came out as both a traditional and modern Disney fairy tale. Yes, it included a twist and they added dates and a modern romance which is realistic and true to the real world, but the film still retains the fantastical and the romantic elements so it ultimately worked in both regards.

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Amy Adams as Giselle was an absolute revelation. She would later on turn out to be one of Hollywood’s best stars, but this was her first truly great performance and one of her best. She embodied the spirit of those early Disney Princesses beautifully in both her facial expressions and emotive work. That’s why Giselle is so easy to fall in love with, so wonderful, cute and ultimately a great Disney character.

Patrick Dempsey is also very good as Robert, and the romance that develops between the two is genuinely moving and highly charming. They are a great couple easy to root for. I also found Prince Edward very amusing and even quite funny at times with his narcissism, and his eventual relationship with Nancy is very cool.

I really liked the roles of the animals and Timothy Spall as Nathaniel is so terrific and perfectly cast. His henchman retaliation story is great. But Queen Narissa herself isn’t all that great of a villain. She felt like a pale version of Maleficent, and all of her plans felt particularly dumb. The movie really needed a better, more memorable villain.

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That’s the only problem I’ve had with this flick along with some of the action scenes with the animals and the dates being all too reminiscent to those kids’ flicks from the nineties. Those felt a bit too childish, albeit even such scenes could be fun and charming.

Everything else was amazing here including the animation. Yes, the movie employs animation along with live-action, and it’s something truly special. The mixing is done so superbly, but the traditionally animated opening is a sight to behold as it’s absolutely magical and beautifully reminiscent of ‘Snow White’ in both its endearing character designs and a classical fairy tale feel to it.

Enchanted is a very rewatchable movie that gets better and better upon each subsequent viewing, and nowhere is that more apparent than in the area of songs. This is a musical and a grand one at that as the soundtrack is hugely nostalgic, and still managing to stand on its own because the songs are so damn catchy and fun.

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So Close is, yes, hugely romantic and swelling in emotion, but overall it’s forgettable when compared to the other film’s numbers. Happy Working Song is no Whistle While You Work no matter how much it tries to emulate that song in tone. But it’s still solid enough with a very endearing sequence and a fun tune.

That’s How You Know is the second best number in the movie and probably the most purely entertaining sequence in it. It is a full musical number in dances and singing, I loved its imagery and the nods to ‘The Little Mermaid’, plus the number itself is incredibly catchy, well sung and very memorable.

But True Love’s Kiss is actually my favorite number here. It’s a shame that So Close was Oscar-nominated instead of this much better number. As I’ve said above, the animated sequence is a gem, but it’s accompanied by this wholesome, wonderful song that is reminiscent to the Disney classics of yesteryear in all the right ways – it’s classical in tone, but still highly enjoyable and catchy in its own right. It’s also beautifully sung, very romantic and also clever and funny in some of its lyrics. It’s a classic that needs to be appreciated more.

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Enchanted has a great score, solid direction and mostly very good pacing as it flies by how fun it is. The dialogue is clever and on point while the performances are all strong across the board. The tone is great, the humor is very strong and the fantastical elements are fine too. It’s a timeless tale that will stand the test of time.

Thanks to beautiful animation, excellent characterization and a perfect mix of old and new in its storytelling, Enchanted is one of the greatest Disney hybrid films that only gets better upon each subsequent viewing. Amy Adams as Giselle was a revelation, and she here delivered one of her career’s finest performances. The references to Disney’s Golden Age are all wonderful. The soundtrack is fantastic with the highlights being very catchy and endearing True Love’s Kiss and scene-stealing That’s How You Know. Yes, some action scenes are weaker and the villain could have been better, but this is otherwise a hugely appealing, romantic and fun flick that will stand the test of time as one of Disney’s biggest classics.

My Rating – 4.5

You can get Enchanted for a very affordable price on Amazon.