I know I'm a little late with this, but my most recent movie in my Netflix queue was a true work of art entitled Enchanted. In our modern day world where children's movies consist of Shrek sequels and Pixar films, it was almost as if the happily ever after, fairytale-esque message was slowly fading away. Now don't get me wrong, I love those movies, but there was something about this film that really brought back memories of Sleeping Beauty and Cinderella, moving me once again to that daydream state of mind.
Enchanted starts off in a classic cartoon Disney setting with princess Giselle and a large assortment of talking animals eagerly awaiting her prince. As she sings, the sound of her voice reaches the ears of Prince Edward, who then jumps on his trusted white horse and races towards her. They meet, and in typical fairy tale fashion decide to get married. Prince Edward's evil stepmother Queen Narissa becomes jealous of Giselle, thinking that she only wants to steal her place on the throne, so she disguises herself as an old lady, and on Edward and Giselle's wedding day, she sends her to a place where "there are no happily ever afters," modern day Manhattan. There she runs into Derek Shepherd, and he decides to help her out. This all sounds pretty cheesy I know, but dig deeper into the film, and you'll be treated to a delightful film that takes another swing at the traditional fairy tale.
Another thing that is so attractive about this movie was all of it's technical achievements. Incredible effects are used throughout the movie to give our world a magical feel, and while I'm not the biggest fan of CGI (something about the lack of real weight weirds me out), this movie does a great job, displaying things like animals and so on.
The music is done by everyone's favorite composer Alan Menken with songs by Stephen Schwartz. The music is scored like any other Disney movie, but mixing that with characters walking throughout the streets of New York brings a charming feeling to all of it. The live musical sequences are hilarious and truly give you that feeling of a classic Disney movie.
But in my opinion the movie really comes to life with the work of Amy Adams. There's something about the way she moves through the film that really leaves your heart and mind tingling. She performs like a real princess, with such grace and charm; top tier indeed.
So all in all this was 107 minutes well spent. A brilliant blend of nostalgia with a modern twist. Take some of the film industries best, along with some awesome acting and fantastic music (the costumes are sick too), and you're left with a truly masterful piece of work.
thanks to this glowing review, somewhere along the line i intend to watch this movie. to preserve my false sense of masculinity though, i will watch it with a girl, or by myself and no one will ever fucking know.
ReplyDeleteglad disney changed it up, it seemed like CGI and talking cars and fish was the best they can do in recent years
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