Happily N'Ever After

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.

I will start by saying this is not the worst animated movie I have ever seen, far from it. Doogal, Secret of NIMH 2 and Titanic:The Animated Movie are much worse than this. That said though, while not a terrible movie, Happily N'ever After isn't particularly good either. Good things first, I loved the idea of the film, an ironic take on Cinderella, coincidentally one of my all time favourite fairy tales. Then there is a good voice cast, standouts being Sigourney Weaver, Patrick Warburton and Wallace Shawn. Personally I felt Sarah Michelle Gellar and Freddie Prinze Jnr were on the bland side, but so were their characters strictly speaking. Plus some funny moments come from the supporting characters such as the gangster wolves and biker witches on motorised broomsticks. And of course Mambo and Munk. However, despite these good things, the film at the end of the day felt forgettable and bland. My thoughts on the animation were mixed, while I liked how audacious some of the backgrounds looked, I thought the character movements were awkward and forced. It is pretty much the same with the music score as well, too exaggerated and overdone for my liking. A great idea for a story, but the jokes were on the whole very derivative and the pace uneven consequently the film lacked sparkle and felt predictable. But the worst offender was the script, it seemed rather lazy for some reason, with more polish and irreverence it could have breathed more life into the film. All in all, not terrible, but not great. 4/10 Bethany Cox

If you can compartmentalize your movie viewing, you will be able to negotiate through this.

The thing to ignore is the thing we are supposed to place foremost, all the dialog, acting, story and pacing. Its just dreadful. Enough said about that.

But. It has two things that interested me.

One is simply the idea. It is a movie of a fairy tale inside a movie about manipulating fairy tales, inside a movie narrated by someone who seems to be outside both movies (he actually gets to stop the film physically) but at the same time trapped in the innermost movie. There's magic to explain some of this, but only a part. Its a very clever concoction.

But the other thing was some of the characters. Well, they vary so; I guess I really mean the two women in front, Ella (Cinderella) and her redhaired stepmother. Its how they are rendered. Ella seems to be the only character whose face seems outside the cartoon world she inhabits. She's clearly a version of Audrey Hepburn with each of her attractive feature made a little more so. Its really quite good.

The bodies are another thing. Not since Betty Boop's boobs were stilled by the censors, have we seen a young body as naturally sexy as this. There's nothing seductive or intended or cheap or erotic about it. Its just that all the parts move as they should, under modest clothes. I really was amazed, especially at the attention paid to her rear end.

The step mother is something else. She moves with exaggerated erotic intent. She has huge bosoms and a nearly invisible waist. And then again huge thighs. Where the younger just walks, this puffy dominatrix swings. There's clearly some intent by the filmmaker here to get some sort of message across about the undesirability of overt sexuality. It zoomed right past me just in my astonishment at Ella's motion.

Ted's Evaluation -- 2 of 3: Has some interesting elements.

I would like to thank all of the bad reviews. They made the movie a way better experience. I didn't think it was going to be like Shrek to begin with so, that part didn't effect me. All in all, the movie was pretty decent, a 6.5 / 10..... there were parts I laughed, parts i liked and those little Dwarfs are creepy! haha....

I agree with those of you who liked the film, and I also agree with those of you who didn't. Hollywood lacks imagination these days with spoofs, re-makes and slight plot changes. But, that's the media's fault... so, for a movie that had to compete with all the stuff out there, it was good.

And Freida, by the way, looked like the Step-Mother from the original Cinderella, but with more attractive hair and a little more leg. Their 'busts' are the same size, just Frieda has a cleavage line.....Don't agree? What Cinderella again -smirk- Thanks for readin'!

-The Horror Whore-

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...