This was the third smash hit of 2007 which I first saw in 2010 and found to be immensely overrated!

Rating: 4/10 (18 January 2011)

This 2007 Disney blockbuster, a parody and homage to the Disney fairy tale movies, definitely turned out to be a hit, so even though I didn't see it when it was in theatres, it wasn't long before I knew about it. I remember several songs from it being nominated for Best Original Song at the Oscars in 2008, but I was glad when they all lost to "Falling Slowly" from "Once". I never actually saw "Enchanted" until just a few months ago. This was after I watched "Juno" and "Superbad", two other very popular films from 2007, and found them both to be very overrated indeed! Even though this movie is nothing like either of those two, I ended up thinking this was another vastly overrated blockbuster from the same year. Trying it a second time several months after my first viewing unfortunately didn't seem to change anything.
Giselle lives in a cartoon fairy tale world called Andalasia, where there is always a "happily ever after." This is also a world where animals talk and inhabitants often break into song. Her true love turns out to be Prince Edward, who saves her from a troll, so the two of them will soon be married, and Giselle will become a princess. However, Prince Edward's stepmother, the evil Queen Narissa, knows that this marriage will remove her from the throne, so she sends Giselle through a portal to a world where there are no "happily ever afters!" This world is the real world, where Giselle finds herself in modern-day New York City! Obviously confused by her surroundings, the young fairy tale woman is soon found by a divorce lawyer named Robert Philip, who comes to her aid. He takes her back to his apartment, but even though she means no harm, she is bound to cause some trouble in Robert's life. Meanwhile, Prince Edward goes to the real world to search for Giselle, and Pip the chipmunk comes along. Queen Narissa sends her servant, Nathaniel, to try and trick Giselle into taking a bite out of a poisonous apple! Pip learns the real reason why Nathaniel has come to the real world and tries to warn the prince, but unfortunately, in this world, chipmunks can't talk!
The lead character here is played by Amy Adams, and both times I saw this film, I realized that this character's cutesy fairy tale demeanor is supposed to be part of the humour here, but I was put off by it. In fact, I didn't really care much for any of the characters. The film is a comedy, but I hardly found anything funny at all, and I think the characters had a lot to do with this, Giselle case in point. The many gags which I found unfunny include Pip defecating in fright at one point, which I wasn't expecting the first time and thought was pretty gross! The idea of fairy tale characters in the real, modern world is an interesting one, but what this causes in this comedy fantasy wasn't usually that amusing to me. I did hear several songs from the film performed at the Academy Awards, but couldn't remember exactly what I thought of them at the time. However, after actually watching the movie and hearing those Oscar-nominated songs again, I would say the songs here are another weak aspect of this 2007 Disney blockbuster, and they have made me appreciate "Falling Slowly" more, even though that is a totally different kind of song from a totally different kind of film.
Of the three movies of 2007 which I later saw and didn't even come close to getting the hype for, this one is by far the most different of the three (unlike the other two, this one is a family fantasy film and has nothing to do with teenhood), and the only one without Michael Cera, but regardless of significant genre differences, my opinion still stands. I didn't review "Enchanted" after my first viewing, since I had just watched "Superbad" and written my bad review of it, and I guess something about doing the same with this film immediately after that one didn't feel right. Even though it didn't seem like this parody/homage to the Disney fairy tale movies would likely improve for me, I gave it another chance several months later, and this time, I intended to review the movie regardless of what I thought of it. Unsurprisingly, I still don't have many positive things to say about it, other than the stunning visual effects towards the end, and I most certainly don't intend to watch it a third time for ANY reason. No matter how well received a film is, it can't impress EVERYBODY who sees it, and I respect other people's opinions, but cannot imagine myself ever agreeing with this movie's reputation.