Ella Enchanted (2004)

6/10

Very cute, funny, clever play on different themes, good storyline BUT poor special effects

Ella Enchanted is about a girl who is under a spell to be constantly obedient, a fact she must hide from her new step-family in order to protect the prince of the land, her friend for whom she's falling. (imdb)

Here's what I love about Ella Enchanted

I love Anne Hathaway and I am surprised I haven't seen Ella Enchanted sooner. Hathaway is brilliant in this movie acting, singing, dancing and even fighting. Hathaway portrays a very funny Ella who has been "blessed" with the gift of obedience, having to do everything she's told. Ok, this gift sounds like the type of gift most parents would want their child to have, but this movie will show that even the "best"-and I say this with as much sarcasm as I can through writing- can have negative results.

The fairy tale story is very well written to involve elves, ogres, princes, evil figures, step mothers/sisters, talking books (of course some sort animate object that can talk), fairies and best of all a hero that will become queen. However, if you pay attention, you will notice that this movie cleverly adds many parodies and pokes fun at many of modern day themes and occurrence. Example, the play on 'botox' and the 'fan-club-craze' that seems very common nowadays. Grimm brothers were even referenced a couple times.

There are many hilarious moments that I couldn't stifle uncontrollable giggling. The brilliant performance from Anne Hathaway being one of the main cause of the humor, which the dialogue and script helps to emphasize. The obedient element was the best part of this film, causing much laughter and odd situations.

The ending song was very suitable..and the dance routine just cracked me up.

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This movie was close to a perfect fairytale flick but sadly there are parts that frustrates me.

The CGI and special effects was very mediocre and I always felt the presence of the green screen-which took away from the action on screen. It felt very stiff and the images didn't merge well.

The ending climax could have been treated differently-without giving too much away- I felt Ella's secret could have been revealed in a much more exciting/funnier way instead of the very rushed fight/explanation/scrimmage that was shown.

Another was how no one figured out to tell Ella to NOT listen to what people tell her to do unless she wants to/ think is right...I think that would have vetoed her from doing some of the deeds, BUT then again what fun would that have been?

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In conclusion, this is a fairytale comedy romance, so all the kinks in the movie kind of flowed well with the silliness of the content.

I RECOMMAND this to those who loved Princess Diaries, Enchanted, Devil Wears Prada, Nanny McPhee, She's the Man, Princess Bride (main male cast Cary Elwes actually played the king in Elle Enchanted) and What a Girl Wants.

It's silly but clever enough for a good time :)