Disney has promoted its latest foray into hand-drawn animation with advertisements proclaiming that it is "the motion picture event unlike anything you've seen before."
Unfortunately, older viewers have seen countless comparable films and are likely to forget this one shortly after leaving the theater.
The movie begins with a short animated sequence introducing viewers to Gisele (voiced and played by Amy Adams), a na've princess in the Disney vein. Within the first five minutes of the film, she sings and talks with animals and dreams of one day meeting her Prince Charming.
The evil Queen Narissa, voiced and played by an over-the-top Susan Sarandon, has other plans for Gisele. Narissa's step-son, Prince Edward (James Marsden), is destined to fall in love with Gisele, but if Narissa can delay the marriage, she will be the rightful heir to the kingdom of Andalasia. To ensure her claim to the kingdom, she throws Gisele down a well and into the most dangerous place in the world: Manhattan.
The film switches from animation to live actors when Gisele finds herself coming out of a sewer in New York City. It is in these beginning live-action scenes that the film shines.
Amy Adams perfectly conveys Gisele's na'veté as she explores the streets of New York and runs into an eclectic cast of characters. When she runs into a little person in Times Square, she exuberantly exclaims, "Grumpy!" and is surprised when he refuses to help her on her quest to find Prince Edward. She bounces through the movie with a jovial smile as any Disney princess would.
After hours of exploring New York and searching for her Prince Charming, Gisele randomly meets Robert, a divorce attorney disenchanted with the idea of love and marriage. The strikingly handsome Patrick Dempsey, known to most as "McDreamy" from "Grey's Anatomy," plays Robert as a straight-and-narrow single parent to a little girl named Morgan (Rachel Covey).
Upon seeing Gisele on a billboard advertising a castle-like casino, Morgan becomes enthralled with the real-life princess. Robert begrudgingly invites Gisele to stay the night in his apartment. This doesn't go over well with Robert's long-time girlfriend, Nancy, played by Idina Menzel. A veteran of both the Broadway ("Rent" and "Wicked") and film ("Rent," 2005) mediums, Menzel is given the least chance to shine of all the movie's actors and instead plays a marginal role in the film; the sole purpose of her character is to provide a barrier between Gisele and Robert.
In spite of transitioning out of animation soon after the movie begins, the bubbly musical numbers normally associated with Disney's animated films are still used to full effect in "Enchanted." One particularly rousing number takes place in Central Park, as Gisele tries to help Robert after he and Nancy fight.
Prince Edward, played in an appropriately flamboyant manner by James Marsden, soon arrives in New York along with Gisele's chipmunk friend, Pip. As the two run through the city's streets on their quest to find Gisele, Narissa's henchman, Nathaniel, hinders their efforts. Timothy Spall, having played Peter Pettigrew, an equally insidious character in the "Harry Potter" films, fits perfectly into his role as the conniving antagonist.
While the film aims most of its jokes toward a younger audience, there are a few notable humorous exceptions to that rule. In one scene, Prince Edward knocks on every door in Robert's apartment building after seeing him and Gisele enter the building together. Tenant after tenant answers their doors, and finally, a 40-something, heavy-set man answers the door in a leather biker's cap and a leather vest. Marsden executes a convincingly beleaguered reaction to the man's happiness upon seeing him at the door.
In another scene, Gisele and Robert talk about having a sleepover. Gisele excitedly exclaims that her first night with Prince Edward will end with a kiss, and Robert quickly responds, "Well, that's not all."
One particularly gross scene clearly geared toward the children in the audience sees Gisele cleaning Robert's apartment while he is at work. She relies on her animal friends to help her out but is surprised to find that the creatures she employs aren't the adorable animals she's used to from Andalasia, but are instead Manhattan vermin.
In spite of the few instances of adult humor layered into the film, "Enchanted" is clearly meant for audiences under the age of 10. While older viewers may enjoy it, it doesn't quite do a good enough job of satirizing Disney's previous films to warrant seeing it as a spoof.
