Enchanted Review

    Just rewatched Enchanted and I am reminded what a delight of a film it is. A modern day fairly tale in a more literal sense than usual, its take on the traditional Disney princess story makes it palatable to our 21st century mindsets.

    The delicious irony of the characters is hilarious, and seeing all the Andalasians going fully over-the-top is a riot. I mean, watching James Marsden play the oblivious Prince, or Timothy Spall revel in his evil henchman role is just downright entertaining! But the stand-out performance is Amy Adams; I challenge anyone to watch and not be utterly charmed by her openness and optimism. And as someone who is rather prone to bursting into song randomly, I take her approach to life very much to heart!

   The strength of the film, for me, lies in its self-awareness. This is Disney poking fun at itself, grabbing the kind of story that made its empire and twisting it on its head. Here the princess chooses for herself. Here she saves the "prince". Here the supposed other woman is treated as a friend, not a foe. For a film full of frills and girliness and actual princesses, I find it quite empowering. Loving to dress up and being a strong independent woman aren't mutually exclusive, it says loud and clear. And six year-old me, building lego houses for her barbies, fully agrees.

    As a final note, it brings my movie-loving heart a world of joy to see just how many Easter eggs I can identify throughout. From Disney references to film tropes to spoofing classics, this is clearly lovingly made. How many can you catch?


Conclusion: Solid [what's this?]


Enchanted came out in 2007.

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