Quick review: "Ella Enchanted"
Took the kid sister to this one today as a post-Easter treat. She'd read the book and wanted to see the movie, I wanted to see voluptuous Anne Hathaway running through the woods and we both agree we don't get to hang out as much as we'd like to, so it worked out all around.
Not a bad little flick at all. Not great, but decent.
It's a "Princess Bride"/"Shrek"-style sendup of fairytale conventions by pasting modern gags and sensibilities into a medieval-fantasy setting. Hathaway plays a peasant girl who's fairy godmother gave her the magic "gift" of obedience: She has to obey any command directed at her. This doesn't (really) impede her life as a free-thinker who crusades for the civil rights of oppressed elves, ogres and giants, at least until she winds up with the obligatory Wicked Stepmother and Stepsisters who use the gift to abuse and humiliate her.
Hm. So, the premise of the movie is that Anne Hathaway (tall, leggy, incredible figure, long brown hair, big anime-esque dark eyes, killer smile) is walking around obeying people's every command. I'd like to take this opportunity and thank the writers for taking the intellectual heavy-lifting out of fantasizing on this one. Much appreciated, fellas :)
She quests to find her godmother and petition the removal of the curse, unwittingly stumbling into romance with a Prince Charming who is pursued like a Tiger Beat pinup by the girls of the kingdom and a conspiracy involving the Prince's uncle (Cary Elwes in what can only be a grateful nod to his starring role in Princess Bride that perfected material like this) whom no one seems to suspect of impure motives despite the fact that he wears black cloaks, a "Ming The Merciless" beard and takes his advice from a talking snake.
Lots of FX and fairytale-isms on display here, but it's just a breezy little romantic comedy spoof at heart: It whizzes by quick, doesn't leave much impression, but makes for a lightly inoffensive good time. Hathaway, it must be said, is the real draw here. She's STUNNINGLY beautiful, and the film plays like an audition reel for what appears to be an impressive range: She gets to do fight scenes, dramatic scenes, comedy, dance and even belts out a song. (She'll next appear in the dark drama "Havoc," purported to feature, yes, a nude scene.)
If the film eventually isn't as good as either "Shrek" or "Princess Bride," (and it isn't) it's because it's a little TOO self-aware for it's own good. Aside from Hathaway's genuinely good "big" dramatic scenes, the movie doesn't know when to drop the self-effacing spoof humor and get "real." The essence of effective satire isn't in what you mock, it's in what you choose NOT to mock: Mel Brooks EVISCERATES the cliches of the Western in "Blazing Saddles," but the triumph of it's Black sheriff hero has a serious undercurrent to it that elevates the film.
Here, a HUGE chunk of the plot (and the Prince's entire character arc) hinges on the equal-rights struggle of the giants, ogres, etc., but the film doesn't want to take the time to set up the seriousness behind the gag: The spectacle of medieval-costumed Ella behaving like a modern college-aged social justice activist in fairytale land is a cute gag, but without acknowledging something bigger behind it it's just so much visual goofiness.
It's not-hardly as good as it could have been (as is, it feels HEAVILY cut for time and pacing) but it's a cute diversion and, damn, is she ever hot.
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