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Enchanted
Score: 98%
Rating: PG
Publisher: Walt Disney Home
                  Entertainment

Region: 1
Media: DVD/1
Running Time: 107 Mins.
Genre: Fantasy/Family/Comedy
Audio: DTS 5.1 Digital Surround Sound,
           Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround
           Sound, French and Spanish Sound
           Tracks

Subtitles: French, Spanish

Features:
  • Deleted Scenes
  • Bloopers
  • Fantasy Comes To Life: Behind-the-Scenes Featurette
  • Pip's Predicament: A Pop-Up Adventure

Going into Enchanted, I had a strong feeling I would enjoy the film. From what I had gathered from the previews, it was a movie that spoofed the standard Disney princess story. But I had a fear that it would be nothing more than Scary Movie, Date Movie or Epic Movie, a "Disney Movie" if you will. In other words, I feared that it would be nothing more than a series of goofs strung together with little or no plot, and while I enjoy those films, it isn't what I was hoping for. Thankfully, that isn't the case here and Enchanted is a good movie all on its own that doesn't need references to the past films, though if you've seen the other films, you will be pleasantly surprised.

Probably the worst part of the film is the first 10 minutes or so, the animated aspect. While this area isn't a bad area, it just isn't as good as the rest of the film. Giselle (Amy Adams from Talladega Nights) is a fair maiden who lives in the forest with animals of all types. Meanwhile, Prince Edward (James Marsden, X-Men, Superman Returns)'s step-mother and queen (Susan Sarandon) knows that if he ever marries, her reign is over. To prevent him from finding his one true love, she has her lackey, Nathaniel (Timothy Spall, Harry Potter), tend to him and keep him away from women.

During a day of hunting, Edward stumbles upon Giselle's hut and the two fall instantly and madly in love. Unfortunately, Queen Narissa learns of this love and before their wedding the next day, she tricks Giselle into falling through a portal into a strange world, New York City.

After a good bit of aimless wandering, Giselle runs into Robert (Patrick Dempsey, Grey's Anatomy) and his daughter Morgan (Rachel Covey), who take her in and take care of her. Of course, Robert thinks she is a few jewels short of a crown, but Morgan believes she is a real princess. Oddly enough, Robert's soon-to-be fiancée seems to have a problem with this strange woman living in his apartment.

During her stay in New York, Robert can't help but notice the odd events that occur. First, there is the suddenly spotless apartment and variety of NYC animals that apparently cleaned it. Then there are the holes in his curtains and Giselle's new dresses of the same patterns. Robert's views of Giselle grow more affectionate, and she starts to learn how love and relationships occur in our world.

When Prince Edward makes his way to our world and finally finds his love, Giselle starts to see just how superficial and shallow Edward is, not in a bad way, just in the same naive way she was at the start of the film. I don't want to ruin the end, or exactly how everyone ends up, but let's just say that by the time the film is over, everyone will get exactly what and who they deserve.

While the DVD doesn't have the Blu-ray exclusive D-Files feature which takes you through the movie pointing out each of the allusions, but the other special features it has are nice. Pip's Predicament is another view of the movie's events, except this time in the form of a popup book and from Pip's perspective. The other featurette is a good behind-the-scenes bit about how they created the movie and characters.

I loved Enchanted, and any Disney fan should pick this movie up, because it is the ideal Disney fantasy story. It's a fun adventure for both the young and old, and you come out of it just feeling good.



-J.R. Nip, GameVortex Communications
AKA Chris Meyer
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