Maxim’s Movie Reviews and Opinions Blog

This movie was…………………. really fun! Very enjoyable! An unexpected surprise. Clever and charming. We went to see it in the theatre because nothing else was staring within 20 minutes and I thought I’d treat Elena to a movie she might like for once: something with a princess, prince, romance and wedding, without guns and violence - she loves these sort of movies. And I thought I can suffer through one cheesy and sterile Disney movie. Not so.

The plot: In the classic animated Disney world the evil Queen Narissa (Susan Sarandon) tries to prevent Giselle (Amy Adams), a classical Disney Made from marrying Prince Edward (James Marsden) in a bid to retain her crown, and sends Giselle to one place that doesn’t know anything about romance and love at first sight: real-life modern-day New York City. Soon after her arrival, Giselle’s views on life and love after meeting a handsome single-father divorce attorney (Patrick Dempsey) and his 6-year-old daughter Morgan (Rachel Covey). Can a storybook view of romance and love survive in the real world?

The good: Like I said, I expected a typical Disney sterile and cheesy film with usual magic and princesses-dolls. And that’s what it really was, except Disney this time decided to capitalize on the stereotypes and make fun of them - that’s what makes the movie work and what makes it fresh, funny and entertaining. And they ever started the movie with the biggest stereotypes, or trademarks (a better name for it) and amplified it to the point it became funny. The transition between classical animation and live action was seamless and nicely done. Initially a 2D-animated and later a CG chipmunk was a cute comical relief: unable to speak in the real-world, he resorts to sharades. All acting without exception was great, so was story and jokes. The most fun was the new spin Disney managed to give to the usual stereotypes and classic stories in this movie: really breathed a new life in them. The girl who played Morgan Philip, Rachel Covey, was really good. Some scenes are quite heart-warming, if not heart-melting.

There are scenes where everybody sings and dances on the streets of New York and these scenes look like a typical parade in Disneyland. It’s an acquired taste, but I enjoyed them.

The length of the movie is perfect. Kids loved it. They were cracking up at every joke. Adults mostly enjoyed the over-the-top cheesiness of songs and some dialogs and some situational comedy.

The bad: hmm. I’d have to think hard about it. At the time of writing I cannot think of anything. Not without a little fart joke; well, everyone does it. Oh, maybe Disney could cast as Giselle, a classic Disney Made, someone a little younger. Amy Adams, for a 33-year old, was showing some signs of aging, or maybe makeup artists haven’t done a very good job. She looked like one of the princesses in makeup from a Disneyland parade that ride with dwarfs and wave the hand at the spectators. The two-dimensional version of her looked better then the 3D real life one. She sang nicely though. Then again, this is the guy talking who thinks Jessica Rabbit is the ideal of a woman.

Very enjoyable movie. Go see it with your family and kids. It can even work as a date movie.