Il était une fois...

This is really the definition of "light entertainment," and seriously, I am still smiling about it now. After getting in the way of an Evil Queen, a fairytale princess is cast into an alternate reality--the real world as we know it--and must survive there until her rescue by her Prince Charming. Hmm! From the trailer I saw, my guess was that "Enchanted" was a one-joke show, a series of gags about how fairytale magic falls on its face in the real world. That Disney has managed to squeeze at least four or five good jokes out of the idea, and mixed in a few sprinkles of profundity on top of that, is something of an achievement. As a romp, it works fairly well, and it delivered quite a lot more than I was expecting.

This is a risky film to make, and Disney gets points for having the guts to unleash this oddity on the holiday season. It's a fun film that isn't afraid to go, occasionally, in weird and startling directions.

The intersection of the two worlds--the world of faith and magic, and the world of disillusionment and hard reality--creates the expected comedic drama at first. Then the two opposing realities begin to influence and change each other in unsettling and stimulating ways that may surprise the audience. The ideas aren't fully developed, but a crucial detail was attended to at the wrap-up that satisfied me--the main characters succeed mainly because they are able to grow beyond their previous conceptions of themselves.

Along the way of telling this story, we get to see a very challenging film production featuring two distinct worlds and their accompanying designs, and the intermingling of these two worlds. It's occasionally heavy on visual effects and animated sequences, but the effects are always story-driven and never gratuitous--a surprising enough thing nowadays that it's worth taking note of. Strong film-making skills, with an old-school sensibility, are at work.

My rating gets an extra point for an audacious, overblown MGM-style singing/dancing sequence, the kind that is rarely seen in theatres nowadays. Go see it!

I'm a teenage boy, and the reviews for "Enchanted," along with some friendly persuasion from my sisters, moved me to give this live action/animated combo. a chance. In the first fourteen minutes of Enchanted, there were two things that caught my attention: 1)The never-ending, sugar-coated, sing-along tune and 2) The grainy style of animation that Disney lavished upon the screen(a tribute to the Disney classics, such as Beauty and the Beast and Sleeping Beauty); in this time span, I felt truly embarrassed to be sitting in the theater with the older couples clustered around me. I mean, what kind of boy in his right mind would want to watch a movie with musical numbers and pretty princesses? And yet, there was something about it...the aire of it almost took me back to the days of my childhood when I would smash my face up to the T.V. screen, when Belle and the Beast were having their unforgettable ball dance or when Ariel was brushing her hair with a fork. It was these sorts of memories that surfaced to my mind as I kept watching Enchanted. And it kept getting better and better. When there was a sudden switch to live-action, my heart was captured by Amy Adams, who seems to be, in my opinion, the finest choice for Giselle. Prince Edward and Robert also had their perfect fits (James Marsden and Patrick Dempsey). Even though this movie is close to perfect, it still has its problems. There is an aire of predictability in the storyline, as well as the fact that it's swamped with clichés (some of which are fresh, and some of which are flat). Yet it flows on, innocently, with its strong actors/actresses, decent-enough screenplay that gives you a warm feeling in your heart (which is what Disney is supposed to do, right?), spectacular music numbers that have charm, and the fact that it is suitable for all ages. There is a little something for everyone in this film--and it's not just a film either--it is a time-machine back to the golden era of Disney's animated films, and its live-action ones as well. And it helps me look forward to the new Disney: one that keeps surprising me more and more every single day.

First off, I want to say that, there is a comment on this thread where someone calls Enchanted disturbing, should be rated R, etc. It is obvious she did not see the film. This reviewer is high, and, this review should be removed.

Enchanted was a surprisingly great, fun modernized Cinderella tale, including 3 show- stopping musical numbers where the test audience applauded after each song.

Amy Adams is perfect, James Marsden, once again, as he was in Hairspray, was very appealing. I felt Patrick Dempsey was good, if not a tad old for the part, and, his fiancé was OK, nothing spectacular. (in fact, I feel this movie would have worked a bit better if Dempsey had a good girl "friend" vs a fiancé).

That being said, I loved the message this movie teaches to children, that is, get to know someone before saying "i do" (as is the message with way too many princess movies, and is the reason why too many suffer youthful failed marriages.

Enchanted was great fun, and very funny! A must see!

I have never written any movie review because I was never in awe of any movie to that extent. Till date, I have given 10/10 rating to 'F.R.I.E.N.D.S' and LOTR trilogy. My rating criteria:

Decent movie - 6 Entertaining movie - 7 Leaves you moist eyed once - 8 Leaves you moist eyed multiple times - 9 You keep talking about the movie for a few days after watching it - 10

My rating for Enchanted is perfect 10/10. It has got comedy, romance, drama, fantasy, 'aww' factor, great script, awesome performances, copying the trademark scenes from the animated movie with creative excellence... EVERYTHING :) :)

There is little more I could add to the stellar comments and reviews for this film. While it is not perfect (probably some expository songs were cut out to reduce time, particularly in the case of secondary characters), it left me smiling and happy, and I even bought the soundtrack on iTunes. One thing I didn't notice mentioned (probably it was noted elsewhere) was that in the beginning Giselle and Edward defeated an evil troll. Isn't this a reference to the upstart Shrek? I love how, instead of making fun of Disney lore this film gently nudges it and updates it. I hope the very tired Disney fairy tale mocking genre is slain by this film.