Synopsis:

A classic Disney fairytale collides with modern-day New York City in a story about a fairytale princess who is sent to our world by an evil queen. Soon after her arrival, Princess Giselle begins to change her views on life and love after meeting a handsome lawyer. Can a storybook view of romance survive in the real world?

The Freak's Rating: A : I have recently had to remind a good friend of mine how I review films and I'll refresh my audience.  I love films of all genres, ALL genres.  For me, a movie such as Enchanted can receive a grade similar to a film such as Pulp Fiction.  It doesn't mean that overall I would choose to watch one over the other; it simply means that in every way the film was trying, it succeeded.  Enchanted is meant as a fairy tale, Disney style.  To be an extremely well made Disney picture, there are a few things you need to accomplish:

1. Acting.  Nothing shows off poor acting like a family film or a comedy.  Amy Adams is my pick as the actress of the decade.  Minnesota born, Adams is a joy to watch in everything she does.  Jen & I absolutely adore her and she brings life to the lead of this picture that makes you believe only she could have pulled it off.  Add Patrick Dempsey as the male lead, Susan Sarandon as the evil mother and the funniest prince charming I've seen in James Marsden and you have pitch perfect acting.

2. Music.  In this case, 3 major songs of the film were nominated for an Academy Award.  The composers for the film are veterans of the field and put together a wonderful score to accompany the songs.  Jen purchased the soundtrack hours after seeing the film.

3. Animals/CGI.  The CGI in Enchanted is weak, but is an extremely small part of the film, taking only 2-3 minutes.  It is easily forgiven with a cute animal thrown in.  There is one scene with a squirrel that Jen & I rewound a couple times just to laugh out loud.

4. Pacing.  This is vastly important over nearly all others, since children will get bored much faster than adults.  Pacing needs to be quick, music needs to be spaced evenly and dialogue not long winded to keep everyone's attention throughout the 90 minutes the movie plays.

5. Storyline.  Perhaps the oldest formula for a story contains a prince, an evil stepmother and a princess.  It is a classic storyline that everyone knows and loves.  Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Beauty & The Beast and nearly every great Disney film has had some tie in with one of those three characters.  Enchanted keeps all three and throws them into modern day.

Now I know I'll never convince some people that a Disney movie can merit an A, but I would ask those people to reconsider how they rate family movies.  If you are weighing every film you see against Reservoir Dogs, you will find that many fall short.  That isn't because they are done poorly, it is because they are done differently.  Set design, sharp dialogue and plot twists aren't necessary in Enchanted.  You can't say character development sucked in Enchanted, because it wasn't intended to have it.  Enchanted succeeds and is quickly one of my favorite Disney movies of all time. 

Sebastian's Rating: B+ : yes very entertaining

Joyce's Rating: B : Enchanted was fun to watch. I liked the flashbacks to "real" Disney movies. Growing up in the true Disney era and seeing the brillance of Walt Disney, I couldn't give this movie a higher rating than a B. Walt Disney was able to make us believe that mice really do talk and can be our best friends...WOW!!

Angie's Rating: B+ : This movie was pretty good.  I was not going to rent it, but Scott said I should.... I agree with Jen.  The only thing I have to say about it is that I had a nightmare the night after watching it.  There is a very humorous/disgusting part of the movie where the princess sings to her animal "friends" to help clean.  Well, what animals do you find in a new york apartment??  Yeah, cockroaches and rats!  Ick!  I jumped up from a dead sleep that night certain that there were cockroaches crawling by my ears!  Turns out it was just rain hitting the outside of the house.  haha... It's worth seeing if you enjoy the disney themed movies.  :)

Jen's Rating: A : I loved this movie!  It's very old school Disney princess-ish.  I couldn't take the smile off my face for several scenes.  Amy Adams is great!  A definite keeper, can't wait to see it with my kids.  If you love Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Snow White and Beauty and the Beast then you will love this movie.  The end is a little weird but then again very Disneyish so they couldn't do it any other way.  Great music too!  Already bought the songs on Amazon.

Brian's Rating: B- : If it wasn't for 10 out of the final 15 minutes of this movie, this movie was flat out awesome.  It started out with am immediate attention grab and had me laughing out loud during the opening sequence where it flat out mocks a fairy tale that is a mixture of Cinderella, Snow White, and Sleeping Beauty.  The movie proceeds to make hilarious mockery of fairy tale stereotypes with acting, dialog, and plot, and I am thinking throughout the movie that its the best thing I have seen since Princess Bride.  I was openly laughing and smiling throughout, and absolutely loved the fake innocent girl act that the lead actress put on.

As I am trying to decide in my head whether to give this an A or A- the final 15 minutes hit me like a ton of bricks.  The Sap-O-Meter is WAAYYY off the scale.  Contrasted with Princess Bride, which still has the story book ending, but shortened enough to not be sickening, this ending drags on with groaner after groaner.  At least there was a confrontation thrown into the mix to help it out, but at this point my attitude was so completely spoiled that it was easy to pick on bad CGI that I would have otherwise overlooked.

The ending that I loathed so much would appeal directly to girls aged 11-15 years old.  Unlike Scott, the 12 year old girl is just not in me.  It must have died off long ago in jaded pragmatism.  Anybody that would rate Dirty Dancing an A would certainly rate this movie an A unless they have a split personality.  Consequently, the same stuff that I disliked about Dirty Dancing brutally ripped my rating down from the A shelf into barely a recommendation.  You know yourself well enough to decide whether you will like this one or not, and if its something you think you would like, the see it without hesitation.

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