Ella Enchanted (2004)

Ella Enchanted (2004) Anne Hathaway, Hugh Dancy, Cary Elwes, Minnie Driver, Vivica A. Fox, Joanna Lumley, Patrick Bergin, Jimi Mistry, Eric Idle, Parminder K. Nagra, D: Tommy O' Haver. Fresh, revisionist twist on the Cinderella fairy tale: a young maiden tries unlocking an obedience curse, which her godmother cast upon her as a baby. This means, she's forced to do anything anyone commands her to do. Delightful fable has all the old-fashioned ingredients from the storybook (evil uncle, wicked stepsisters, etc.), but lively pop-songs, goofy humor, and a nice nod to the Grimm Brothers give it a hip kick, though the fantasy effects look only half-hearted at best. Headed by a wonderful cast, Hathaway is an utter joy. Pleasant family fare will take adults back to their youth and kids will live happily ever after. Based on the Gail Carson Levine book. Running Time: 96 minutes and rated PG for mild violence. ***

Fmovies: Ella Enchanted, starring Anne Hathaway, Hugh Dancy, Minnie Driver, and Eric Idle, is a contemporary epic fairy tale, sitting on the top shelf with such classics as The Wizard of Oz, and Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.

A deeply telling and romantic tale, set in the land of magic, with many important messages, ranging from personal freedom, self empowerment, truth, and equality, to the simple pleasures that create the beautiful contrast of fairy tales, humor, song, beauty, friendship.

A family movie, Ella Enchanted will be enjoyed by adults and children, and is sure to bring a warmth to your heart.

Anne Hathaway steals your heart with her charm, personality, and ability to carry the movie no matter where it leads, with great beauty and skill. The supporting roles are cute, witty, and fill out the movie in all the right places.

This is one for the vaults, and the DVD collection.

I thoroughly enjoyed this film, it was clever, original and entertaining. The interesting opening scenes were great as they transported you to the fairytale world. I was very happy to see Eric Idle was the narrator and Anne Hathaway was brilliant and instantly likable as Ella, with Hugh Dancy the perfect handsome prince. The Elf (another familiar face- Dudley Moore in 'Not Only But Always') is wonderful as the sidekick. I also thought the story was very good, it was slightly predictable at first, but then there were some interesting twists, where I think the usual fairytale storyline was changed to great effect. The way the Fairytale land echoed aspects of home were amusing, with wooden escalators, taxi carriagesÂ… In a way, I liked it more than Shrek, because of the fact that it was less 'polished' and maybe more British. I would definitely recommend 'Ella Enchanted' to anyone who wants a fun and entertaining film.

Ella Enchanted fmovies. This movie was gifted with a spell of fairy tale which was likable. From the beginning Ella Enchanted was good – and all thanks to the beautiful Anne Hathaway who seemingly sparkled. Great work of escapism, such that though it's stupidity can be considered, it is shadowed by its modernism and it's attempt to drive the audience into attention by it's sarcastic humor present at certain desirable instances. Anne Hathaway stole the show – there seemed to possess an invisible halo on her making her the most preferable Ella. However I did ruminate over the fact that is that all Anne Hathaway can play- this character had almost cloning gestures as her character of Mia in The Princess Diaires – so is that how much her talent can expand? Well as for the other cast member - There was a casting perfection as taking into consideration Cary Elwes, Minnie Driver and Vivica Fox, all were matched perfectly to their designated roles. In conclusion I would not suggest this movie to grown ups- as they would certainly NOT enjoy this step out of reality – however this would be a great movie for kids and may be pre teenagers and if you are an Anne Hathaway fan like me – well than don't miss this.

Given the recent success of fantasy movies, it was probably inevitable that "Ella Enchanted" would get its turn on the silver screen. Like "Harry Potter," Gail Carson Levine's delightful re-imagining of Cinderella has been popular with both readers and critics, and contains plenty of imagination and engaging characters. One only wishes it had translated to screen better.

Levine comes up with a clever explanation for the reason why Ella (played in the film by Anne Hathaway) must slave for her horrid step-family: at her cradle, a well-meaning but rather dim fairy godmother (Vivica A. Fox) granted her the "gift" of obedience, forcing the poor girl to comply with any direct order regardless of how ridiculous or dangerous. Refusing to be resigned to her lot, Ella sets out to return the unwanted gift--and en route, find romance with Prince Charmont ("Char" for short, played by Hugh Dancy).

Unfortunately, it is here that the similarities to the source material end. In the film, Ella comes off as far less resourceful and clever as she does in the book, and mostly seems to wind up getting into embarrassing or awkward situations through her enforced compliance. Which is a shame, because Hathaway is a vibrant and talented actress who could have easily imbued the character with more spunk had she been called on to do so. It doesn't help that the screenwriters have seen fit to muddy Ella's quest with a standard-issue villain in the form of Char's Claudius-esquire uncle (Cary Elwes, channeling the spirit of Prince Humperdink and accompanied by a very unconvincing CGI snake), and some business about the oppression of the kingdom's non-humans.

Like "Shrek," "Ella Enchanted" takes the fractured fairy-tale route, throwing in sly references and anachronisms at every opportunity. Some of these work (I liked the man-powered escalator in the medieval mall), but more than a few fall flat (mostly Char's squealing fan club, who are perhaps too accurate in their annoying behavior). Hathaway and Dancy play it more or less straight, but everyone else camps it up grandly, especially Elwes. Unfortunately, both Fox and Minnie Driver as Ella's more sensible godmother feel miscast, and Parminder Nagra (the talented star of "Bend it Like Beckham") is virtually wasted as Ella's foreign-born friend.

"Ella Enchanted" is nice enough to sit through--Hathaway's presence keeps things going, and there are enough nice visuals. But in a genre that in the past few years has seen "Harry Potter," "Lord of the Rings," and "Shrek"--with "A Series of Unfortunate Events" and "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" among the films on the horizon--it takes more than nice to distinguish oneself in the field.

The story of young Ella who was given the gift of obedience is a very frustrating movie, it should be wild and charming and funny and the best thing since sliced bread, or if not sliced bread then The Princess Bride, but some how it doesn't quite work as whole.

The cast is game, the special effects are good and the direction seems to be mostly on target, but somewhere along the way the movie decided to be too hip, too happening, too many things all at once. Its a comedy, fantasy, adventure, musical and a few other things all at the same time. It has timeless humor and humor that is in danger of dating very badly. It feels some times like a TV movie for kids and at other times something that should be on the big screen for everyone. It doesn't seem to know what it wants to be. Somehow I think that there were too many people with too many ideas (good ideas) but no one to say too much is a bad thing.

I like this movie a lot, the pieces much more than the whole, but I can't help but wanting to beat up everyone involved in it because this should be so much better.

Six out of ten. Wait for video.