'You've Met Your Match, You Foul Bellowing Beast!'

Rating: Null/10 (19 May 2008)

Disney comes up with a charming little movie. 'Enchanted' starts with the old fashioned animation that was evident in Disney classics. This animated sequence cleverly parodies other Disney fairy tales. Then after about 20 minutes or so into the movie, the characters enter our New York City. What follows are hilarious events of culture shock, discovery, singing, love and friendship.
Bill Kelly's writing and Kevin Lima's direction are technically very good. The lines are great and the way the actors deliver them only highlight the humour. I only had a problem with the love angle. It just didn't engage me as a viewer. Perhaps it's because of the chemistry between Amy Adams and Patrick Dempsey. Amy Adams is lovely and transcendent. She shows her characters transformation brilliantly but Patrick Dempsey is hardly convincing. At best, he's strictly okay. I didn't know that Timothy Spall was in the movie but when I saw the animated version of Nathaniel,I was thinking how much he resembled Spall and of course, he is Spall. James Marsden steals the show. I'm starting to like this actor very much as he really gets under the skin of the characters he plays and does nothing short of a fine job. A barely recognizable Susan Sarandon rounds it off with her strong presence and she pulls it off with ease. And, of course Julie Andrews lends her welcoming voice as the narrator.
The animation is impressive and it reminds one of the classics Disney used to gift. The special effects and visuals are stunning. The songs are funny to watch. Cinematography is good.
'Enchanted' works well as a family film. Kids will surely love it. The only thing that didn't appeal to me was Giselle and Robert's love story. Otherwise it was a pleasant viewing.