Cendrillon et le prince (pas trop) charmant

I looked forward to this movie, having been pleasantly surprised by other fractured fairy tales such as "Shrek" and even "Hoodwinked", and I really wanted to like this one a lot, but as it was, I only like it a little.

Here's the lowdown: Cinderella, or Ella, as friends call her (Sarah Michelle Gellar) is taken with the charming but clueless Prince Humperdink (Patrick Warburton), but in the classic fashion of the fairy tale we all know, stepmother Frieda (Sigourney Weaver) has other ideas--when she stumbles upon the lab of a powerful wizard (George Carlin) and runs afoul of his hapless assistants, Mambo and Munk (Andy Dick and Wallace Shawn, respectively) she learns that everyone's fate in Fairy Tale Land is pre-written, can be manipulated, and proceeds to do so. She garners the support of just about every fairy tale villain in a regular coup, Forcing Ella, Mambo, Munk, and cynical palace dishwasher Rick (Freddie Prinze Jr.) to search for the Prince, or some way out of the mess.

This film looks terrific--the visuals of Fairy Tale land are quite stunning, and the character design, along with capable voicing, makes the characters memorable. Even the idea is juicy, and leads to other interesting notions, such as the view of Rumplestiltskin (Michael McShane channeling Gilbert Gottfried) as a concerned guardian. The problem--and it's a big one--is that they all deserve a better executed, better timed story. The plot, while intriguing in concept, drags in too many places, and there just feels like a few too many holes are left here and there. The disjointed use of the talent is somewhat evident as well; I'm somewhat used to guys like Warburton, Shawn, and Andy Dick getting the great lines, and Dick does get some good ones, but most of the good lines are divided between Prinze and Weaver. Oh, they handle them effectively enough, but the uneven feel loses punch for the whole production. So technically, it's excellent, but overall, it's mediocre. You should really wait for DVD on this one...

I really don't understand all of the venom and vitriol directed at this cute little film. Is it a cinematic masterpiece? No, but it's hardly the worst children's animated film you'll ever see. (I leave that honor to the horror that is DOOGLE.) The ill-fated romance between Rick and Ella seems genuine enough -- it makes you take a second look at the classic fairy tale and ask the question, "what is so all-fired wonderful about Price Charming, anyway?" The casting was appropriate -- anything featuring the underused Wallace Shawn can't be all bad -- and the acting was fine, if not Oscar-worthy.

Again, is this film on the level of SHREK or ICE AGE, or anything by Pixar? Of course not. But is it better than a lot of the animated children's films that have come out lately? Absolutely.

Avoid this film until you've read all of the negative reviews on it first. That way, you are less likely to be as disappointed in it as I was. The previews suckered me into seeing it. Do not make this mistake!

Though a cute idea, it ended up as only that ... a cute idea. Fortunately, the acting was well suited to this shallow attempt to entertain. Comparing it to Shrek and Hoodwinked is rather unfair, since this movie is no where near their league.

If you have absolutely nothing to do on a cold and rainy day, and you get hold of a free ticket, pick up a newspaper on your way to the theater and read what the critics have said about it. If you decide to see it, on those terms, you have at least been warned.

While this had some good points, there were many weaknesses. The characters didn't always fit their voices and the animation was pretty weak. Freddie Prinze, Jr.'s character, Rick, looked like Justin Timberlake, for some unknown reason. Characters walked as if they were automatons, not with the fluidity of humans. And Sarah Michell Gellar, while I'm a big fan of hers from her Buffy days, seemed bored the whole time. In fact, her (Cinder)Ella spoke with the same stilted simplicity as the robot Buffy from Season Five of the series. The monumental talents of George Carlin were wasted in such a small role. The whole thing seemed as if it were a rushed rip-off of Shrek and Hoodwinked.

Happily N'ever After is a play on the usual and expected ending of all fairy tales, where the guy will get the girl, defeat the evil queen/king, and ride off into the sunset. What happens after that, frankly, nobody cares, as it's as perfect an ending as it can possibly be.

The storyline here takes a peek into what can actually go wrong, if "happily ever after" gets traded for "happily never after". Fate as it seems, in Fairy Tale Land, is managed in a castle top by a caretaker wizard (George Carlin) and his two bumbling helpers Mambo (Andy Dick) and Monk (Wallace Shawn). In their lair, there's the book of fairy tales which dictates the lives of everyone in the land, a remote controlled looking glass for that big-brother peep into their lives, and a set of scales, which can be tipped into Good or Bad directions to influence the proceedings of the fairytale.

Central to the plot, despite a host of other familiar and identifiable tales like Sleeping Beauty and Little Red Riding Hood, is that of Cinderella's. Ella (as she is known here, voiced by Sarah Michelle Gellar) as usual is being bullied by her wicked stepmother (aren't they always), voiced by Sigourney Weaver, and ugly stepsisters (Kath Soucie and Jill Talley), and we encounter the same scenario about going to the Prince's (Patrick Warburton) ball, fairy godmother, pumpkin coach, glass slippers and all. Only that this time, the spotlight is put on the Prince's kitchen helper Rick (Freddie Prinze Jr), the chief protagonist and narrator of the story.

Rick secretly loves Ella, and cannot fathom why the entire kingdom is smitten with the buffoon of a prince charming - Prince Humperdink. It seems to copy the formula set out by Shrek, that if you have a prince, making him a less than perfect specimen character-wise, to draw out the laughs. In the presence of his incompetence, Rick and Ella gotta combine forces to save their land and restore order when Ella's stepmother gains control over the wizard's staff and lair. That about sums up the plot.

Delivery wise, the animation looked rather uninspiring. 3D animated movies have reached a certain threshold, and no longer commands the wows. It's not that it isn't gorgeous, just not fantastically so. The voice talents are relatively unknowns, except for the leads, and seemed to have gone the opposite direction to the mantra of filling the movie with as many recognizable stars as possible, in order to put attention to the story and dialogue. Sadly, the story's rather plain, with an expected ending, and the dialogue, lacking in wit and spunk. There are scenes which try to be funny, but just fall flat.

In an animated movie where fairy tale characters run amok, the movie coasts along without much madness infused. But definitely easy enough for its intended target audience - the children - to understand and enjoy.