Ella Enchanted is a new twist on an old fairy tale. I'd say that it's Cinderella without the "Cinder" but that really doesn't mean anything, does it? Well, OK, let me try to set up the plot.
First of all we have Ella of Frell (played by the beautiful Anne Hathaway who we saw in The Princess Diaries). The movie starts with her as a baby, visited upon by her not-so-reputable fairy godmother, Lucinda (Viveca A. Fox). As a baby gift, Fairy Lucinda casts a spell on her such that she must always be obedient. This causes young Ella much trouble as she is growing up (and much of the movie's comedy) because she is always taking things so literally. For instance, there is a scene when she is in grade school and a snotty little classmate tells her to "Bite me" to which Ella dutifully complies.
When Ella gets to be a teenager, her father remarries and she suddenly has an evil stepmother and two step-sisters. Her step-sisters quickly learn of her quirky behavior and are quick to take advantage of it, even though they may not fully understand it.
Then, of course, there's the Prince. Two of them to be exact. One, Prince Edgar (played marvelously by Cary Elwes), has taken claim to the throne upon the death of the King, who was his brother. Prince Edgar has also been quite abusive with his use of power. The other, Prince Charmont (Hugh Dancy), is Edgar's nephew and is the teen idol of the day.
As you would expect, a love story is about to ensue between Ella of Frell and Prince Charmont, although Ella is not as impressed with the prince as his adoring teenage-girl fans who always chase him around (literally). And, as you might expect, Ella's spell may wind up causing her a lot of trouble before the story is over.
The story, I'll have to admit, isn't all that fantastic. It's a simple gimmick that is sure to provide a few laughs. The best of these are when Prince Edgar is talking to Prince Charmont and Ella about something and tells them to "Grin and bear it." I've never seen such a big smile on a girl. It was very funny. Then, to top it off, he tells them to "Hop to it." Ella immediately begins hopping away and a confused Prince Charmont decides to play along.
But what really makes this movie charming are the cast and characters. First we have the narrator, Eric Idle (from Monty Python) whose rhyming lines really set us in the fairy tale mood. Then there's Minnie Driver as one of Ella's aunt's who has the spell of ageless beauty (not a bad one to get if you're a lady). Ella's step-sisters are quite funny. And then we have elves, ogres, and giants which take a part in the story too. There is a pretty realistic looking CGI snake that converses with Prince Edgar, not unlike Prince John's snake from Disney's Robin Hood.
But stealing the show, in my opinion, is Cary Elwes. He is fantastic as the slimy and greedy Prince Edgar. Perhaps it is just my sense of humor, but seeing his over-the-top, juvenile-like evil was just too fun to watch.
I was also enamored with the style of the film. Although it was in an ancient, fairy-tale setting, there were many modern references...most notably, the music. Ella sings a rendition of Queen's "Somebody to Love" a little past mid-way through the movie which made me think of another Queen song "We Will Rock You" which was equally out-of-place in A Knight's Tale. Besides the music, we also have things like escalators. This one was quite funny because you first realize that Ella is on an escalator but are wondering how this could be when the camera pans back to reveal laborers working hard to manually turn a crank underneath the stairway. I thought that was pretty neat.
But, more importantly, did my daughter like it? Because you know I wouldn't have seen this movie without her. And she did. Although, she was quite disgusted by the gratuitous kissing and I'd have to agree with her on that. I was also a little taken aback by the drunk fairy godmother and didn't feel that this was the right thing to be showing children. But then again, I don't think my daughter will be scarred for life or anything.
All in all, this movie is quite fun and charming and very lighthearted. The kids will love it and parents will too.
A wonderful movie to share with daughters everywhere.
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