Ultimately a victim of bad editing.

Rating: 7/10 (16 March 2008)

I find this movie is hard to critique because there was a lot that was really good about this film with just a few moments of clumsy story editing involved.
As a romantic comedy this film delightfully shines above most, but only because Amy Adams overplays every scene with a stunning display of storybook innocence. The film's use of the typical princess superpower of command over animals in the real world is extremely funny - watching anthropomorphic cockroaches cleaning an apartment is always good for a sight gag (as proved in Joe's Apartment). The instant song/dance routine generation is just a little too over the top, but is still enjoyable.
There is also some things that are very bland about this movie. When the central idea of the film is to challenge romantic stereotypes and the filmmakers limit those stereotypes to just those within animated romances, the stereotypes and clichés that are used in live action romances stick out like a sore thumb. For example, the character of Robert Philip is shown to be faithfully attached to a woman for five years and even though there is no sign of emotional problems within the relationship, that connection is shown that it can be torn asunder by the introduction of a single female.
Also, this movie fails to give the character of Prince Edward any time to really develop interest or explanations for why he does half the things he does. For example, why does he jump head first into a well when he has absolutely no idea what's down there or why does he jump on a bus and believe it to be a wild beast when they obviously have carriages in the animated world?
Susan Surandon's character of the evil stepmother offers the movie little beyond her animated portrayal. When she shows up in the end, all she comes across as is a drug dealer and someone whose purpose is to spell out the role-reversals to anyone in the audience who just happened to be stricken with blindness within the previous 10 minutes. The unfortunate fact that her character does not come to terms with the limitations of her clichéd persona as the other characters do leaves a bit of a void within the story.
Of course I couldn't possibly write a review about this movie without mentioning Nathaniel and the animated chipmunk, Pip.
There, I mentioned them.
Final Grade: C+ (nothing to cry about)