DVD Reviews
DVD Review: Enchanted
By Dana Rae
Mar 18, 2008, 16:22 GMT

What would happen if a Disney princess suddenly fell into our world? If the perfect world of ‘true love’s kiss’ collided with our modern, cynical, fast-paced world, what would happen? Enchanted takes this idea and throws Giselle (well, she is pushed by the evil queen) into New York City.

You can imagine what happens when the innocence of Giselle (played by Amy Adams) and hustle and bustle of New York collide on a dirty street corner. She crawls out a sewer inscribed with fleur de lers, wonders around in the rain in her royal wedding dress, and then climbs a billboard (see, we get to see her under-things!) with a glittery castle. 

Luckily, she is rescued by a divorce lawyer (played by Patrick Dempsey) and his six-year-old little girl. They take Giselle to their apartment and some of the funniest moments in the film are when Giselle, in all her princess-y ways, cleans the apartment. With the help of some of her animal friends (including birds, rats and cockroaches), she manages to make a dress out of curtains and become enchanted with the shower (“It’s wonderful!” she exclaims to Dempsey’s not-so-thrilled girlfriend).

Of course, through all of this, she is in high hopes (and her dedication never falters) that her prince will come and rescue her.

Prince Edward with the puffy sleeves is coming for her, of that she is adamant! And he does manage to get into our world! There are wonderful scenes and much humor as Prince Edward tackles a bus and an irate bus driver, gets run over by a bike brigade, and generally causes enough mayhem to keep the laughs coming.

I’d vote Mr. Prince Edward best costume EVER on film, and it is worth seeing this film to see what he is dressed in. 

The music (yes, this is a musical) in this film is a wonderful blend of dance, singing, and high energy. In the biggest musical number that marks the half-way point in the film, Giselle manages to get everyone singing and dancing in her beautifully innocent way.

The mix of musical genres fascinated me. The Jamaican drums start just as you are rolling your eyes and thinking ‘Good God, another song!’. The boat scene with the Mariachi band is reminiscent of Disney’s classic scene with Ariel and her prince in ‘The Little Mermaid’. 

It is amazing that the power of a princess includes coming up with a song on the spot, doing the dance numbers and getting so many people involved, all while arranging a date with flying doves for Dempsey’s character and his girlfriend.

Yes, princesses are that powerful! Whew, I was tired just watching the ‘How Will I Know’ song and dance. 

The date that Giselle arranges for Dempsey’s character and his girlfriend is golden tickets to a ball. The girlfriend is overcome (well, they were delivered by real live doves) and is enchanted. The ball becomes the climax to the film where everything ends and begins again.

The evil witch, meanwhile, has entered our world also and it going to wreck havoc – even if it is a little unimpressive. However, the lack of evil and havoc was not Susan Sarandon’s fault.

Sarandon plays the evil queen to the hilt, and I loved her costume, and her evil laugh, and her make-up job (I almost did not recognize her in all the make-up and costume).

Although I enjoyed the movie, I HATED the “gummy” dragon. Yes, folks, the CGI dragon looks like it is made of gummy candy and my, I could just gobble him up! Yum, yum. The gummy dragon is the best Sarandon’s evil queen could do? C’mon, people. The classic Disney dragon from ‘Sleeping Beauty’ is done so much better and so much scarier!!! 

Does everything end happily ever after? Is true love’s kiss revealed? Does Prince Edward of the puffy sleeves reunite with his Giselle? Well, peeps, we are talking about a Disney film! I think you know the answers to these questions, but that is hardly the point. 

The DVD comes loaded with special features and even a treat for the kids. Features include several deleted scenes, bloopers and a behind-the-scenes look at how the story was brought to the screen. There is also a “Pop-Up Adventure” featuring Pip!

All in all, I enjoyed Enchanted and would recommend giving it a try. It has beautiful music and costumes, and some really good laughs. I think one of the marks of genius is too make fun of one’s self and Disney has certainly done that with their princess genre.

To the actors’ credit, the acting in the live-action sequences still manages to be animated and larger-than-life - which helps you to visualize the people of the fairy tale world in our world.

Enchanted is enchanting, but watching it more than once (unless you are a little girl in the 4-8 year old range) might grate on the nerves. The first time I saw this film, I was charmed. The second time I watched it, I picked up on all the subtle princess-themes that Disney uses to pay homage to, well, Disney and the classic princess stories. The third and fourth times I watch it, I was less enchanted, but that probably would happen with any film I watched four times in a row!  Enchanted is highly recommended, and it is 107 minutes of great fun. 

Enchanted is now available at Amazon. It is available for pre-order at AmazonUK for an April 7th release. Visit the DVD database for more information.