Viewed in
2007, 2008
Premise
A Disney-like animated princess is exiled to 2000's New York City and becomes a real person-princess.
Who should watch
Those who want a light-hearted satire on animated princess fairy tales.
Thoughts
This film was so cute and funny. When I saw the trailer for the first time, I thought it would be a lame movie. I was wrong.
My favorite things about the film were the charming acting and funny jabs at the genre. There were plenty of predictable scenes of confusions between the animated world and real world, but I still found myself laughing. The best scene ever was when the princess calls out to the local wildlife to help her with housecleaning, and ends up with pigeons, rats and roaches.
No matter how corny or how sharp the jokes were, they were all enjoyable because of Amy Adams as the princess and James Marsden (Cyclops from X-Men) as her prince. I loved how they played it straight and with full of zest. Their over-the-top acting was the perfect tone for the silliness of it all. The actress who played the little girl was super-cute too, even if she was forcing it a bit. Great of Disney to bring back Alan Menken to contribute some songs.
Unfortunately, like many other movies, the story lost steam in the last act and was pressured into making an unecessary special effects spectacle of the climax. Also, I could hardly recognize Susan Sarandon as the evil witch. Nevertheless, I laughed more than enough times in the first two-thirds of the film to let it pass.
If you've seen plenty of princess fairy tale movies, you and your family should get a kick out of this film.
What I would change
Take the money spent rendering a CGI dragon and put it into the writers' hands to make a funnier, smarter climax.
Also, I wished some of the Disney 'princess' cameos and references were more obvious. I don't think even the above-average Disney fans will know the names of Paige O'Hara or Jodi Benson. Granted, I wouldn't want it to be cluttered with inside jokes, but this was as much a tribute as is a satire of Disney animated princess movies.
Random
Poor Timothy Spall is getting type-casted as the bumbling antagonist henchman.
Also, in the scene when his character pretends to be an Italian waiter, only the front of his head is in disguise. It's subtle, but hilarious.
