Enchanted Review

Turns out Disney do have it in them to make a strong, live-action parody of their own work. Impressive. Kind of. It is impressive in the same sense that a dog not hurling up the grass they just mowed through outside is impressive, more from the sense of forgiveness and fear that comes before it. Escalate Enchanted to the modern Disney formula and there is a clear and significant distance between how the Mickey Mouse asylum runs itself now and what it mocked a decade ago. There is irony buried deep below this feature and that is never actively touched on. Considering the back and forth of the leading characters and the obvious distance between the real world and their fantasy counterparts, Enchanted is light on ideas but smart with what it has.

Rattling through the expected highs and lows of the animated princess tale of true love marks an implicit criticism of true love in the Disney realm. Soppy and coy it may be, the narrative that soon spurns out from that is a delight and rather enjoyable. Its reliance on musical numbers and set-piece dance routines has its place and that place is away from the screen. Vaguely fun moments make for lighter scenes that never quite connect wholly with the heart of a viewer but do well to distract from the disinterest of the genre Enchanted finds itself in. Much of this soppy slop is reliant on the leading performances of Amy Adams and Patrick Dempsey, a pair who are such a surprisingly charismatic duo that seeing them share the screen provides that perfect, light treat.

Much the same can be said for the supporting roles present throughout this Kevin Lima-directed piece. He has tried his hand at Disney live-action features before, and surprisingly 102 Dalmatians was not enough to put him off entirely. Nutcase princesses crawling out of the sewers and a struggling dad attempting to look after his carefree and imaginative daughter. Enchanted is nothing out of the ordinary but does play like a fairytale at times. For how mad a change of pace Adams made in the later stages of her career, it is fascinating to see her in the light and colourful charms of Enchanted, a committed role that works well alongside Timothy Spall and Susan Sarandon. Stacking the cast higher and higher does little to make up for the annoyingly bright and cheerful choreography, moments that do not earn their place.

Most of Enchanted works as a fairly good knock at the adaptive process, there is just severe irony to Disney being responsible for it. Sickly in places, sweet throughout and completely airheaded the whole way through. A fine feature, completely and utterly fine. Some moments stick out, of course, from James Marsden being clattered into by a cycling unit to the escalation of the back-and-forth rom-com stereotype. Enchanted is light and breezy but does little to convince of its larger, choreographed moments, that wane on through forgettable tunes and a romantic conclusion that nearly leads with both characters plummeting to their death. Had they done so, Enchanted would be all the better for it, but Disenchanted would never have been released. The foibles of gluttony ring out once more.