Starring: Amy Adams, Patrick Dempsey, James Marsden, Timothy Spall, Susan Sarandon
Synopsis: An animated fairy tale meets modern, live-action comedy. The beautiful princess Giselle is banished by an evil queen from her magical, musical animated land and finds herself in the gritty reality of the streets of modern-day Manhattan. Shocked by this strange new environment that doesn’t operate on a “happily ever after” basis, Giselle is now adrift in a chaotic world badly in need of enchantment. But when Giselle begins to fall in love with a charmingly flawed divorce lawyer who has come to her aid – even though she is already promised to a perfect fairy tale prince back home – she has to wonder: Can a storybook view of romance survive in the real world? [from IMDB]
NB: This review contains spoilers
Rating: 
Review: What a brilliant film this is! It takes the Disney formula, transforms and parodies itself. Amy Adams is simply enchanting as the perfect princess Giselle who finds herself thrown into the busy reality of New York City following the evil Queen Narissa’s (Susan Sarandon) devious plot to remove her as a threat to the throne. Giselle finds her illusions of perfect endings and true love shattered when she has a chance meeting with lawyer Robert (Patrick Dempsey) as she desperately seeks to go back to her home of Andalasia. As she gets to know this strange world Giselle learns that perhaps her Prince Charming is not the man she thought he’d be, just as Robert begins to discover that some romances do have happy endings. Meanwhile, Prince Edward, Giselle’s husband-to-be, plunges himself into reality from the two dimensional world to save his beloved Giselle, with chipmunk Pip, Giselle’s best friend at his heels. while the Prince’s henchman and double-crosser, Nathaniel follows to do his beloved Queen’s bidding in completely destroying Giselle with the infamously powerful poison apple. Nathaniel is hilariously ousted numerous times along the way and soon discovers that the Queen is not who he envisioned her as. It is a curious joy to watch these familiar two-dimensional characters adapt to the harsh reality that is our world. This is what makes the film so ridiculously enjoyable.
The music and dance numbers are gloriously reminiscent of the old Disney musicals, and what glory they are indeed. ‘True Love’s Kiss’ is a wonderful homage to the classic romances that Disney depicts so well, while ‘Happy Working Song’ would make even the laziest couch potato get up and clean after themselves in good spirits. ‘That’s How You Know’ makes Central Park come stupendously alive with joy and colour, redolent of The Little Mermaid. ‘So Close’ is the sort of song that chick flicks couldn’t possibly get away with without bad press but somehow Disney is the only exception. Perhaps these are not so memorable as past songs, but they are nonetheless very sweet, and a very enchanting addition to the film.
The fusion of 2D/3D animation with live-action sequences is splendidly done with nothing overzealous, although Susan Sarandon’s dramatic demise is somewhat lacklustre and a nuisance at the tumult of the climax. I was pleased with the reversal of roles, as Giselle becomes the knight in shining armour with a bewildered Robert as the unlikely damsel in distress. Ultimately their declaration of their love for one another is long overdue, but as if this turn of events was unexpected!
A film for adults and children to savour and enjoy.
