| Overall Grade: |
A+ |
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| Story: |
A+ |
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| Acting: |
A- |
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| Direction: |
A+ |
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| Visuals: |
A- |
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Making fun of yourself works for Disney!
by BrookeL (movies profile)
Mar 23, 2008
63
of
67 people found this review helpful
Disney scores with this tongue-in-cheek send-up of their animated fairytales. With elements of Snow White, Cinderella AND Sleeping Beauty (my 8-year-old pointed these all out to me) and a dash of modern sensibilities thrown in, this movie is a delightful nod to the innocence and naivete of traditional fairy tales. At the same time it acknowledges our modern sense of love and how we can seemingly combine the two ideals with beautiful results.
Amy Adams is spot-on, sweet and charming on the verge of sickening but never stepping over that fine line. She makes a beautifully seamless character development in the latter third of the movie. James Marsden is also perfectly cast as the charming, yet slightly self-absorbed, prince who woos her. Patrick Dempsey pretty much just has to play the same character he always does- and it works for this role. If it seems like he is typecast in the movies he is in- there is a definite reason. I didn't particularly care for Susan Sarandon's makeup (as the queen- as the witch it was amazing) and I thought, of all the acting, hers was a little over-reaching. Wormtail from the Harry Potter series is a great evil sidekick to her royal scheming but the scene stealer of all scene stealers is a CGI chipmunk named Pip! My family is still talking about his charades scene a week after seeing the movie. We also loved seeing Idina Menzel (most famously known for her turn as Elphaba, the Wicked Witch, in Broadway's "Wicked") here as a modern-day girl who finds her prince.
The animation at the beginning isn't up to traditional Disney quality, but I don't think it was supposed to be, since this really is a live-action film. The musical numbers are a LOT of fun, especially the one in Central Park. It's not Alan Menken or Stephen Schwartz's finest music, but it's hummable and will definitely still sell soundtracks.
As I mentioned earlier, the CGI work in this film is good (especially the chipmunk) up until the very end with a dragon that just seemed a touch sloppy. I don't know if it was the scale or the coloring but it didn't ring as true as the chipmunk.
Overall, this was a delightful movie. It is one we will see again in the theater and definitely buy when it comes out on DVD. Our whole family enjoyed it- from the five-year-old to the grandparents. |
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