In Disney's Enchanted, a princess-to-be is transported by an evil queen from their animated wonderland into our world, reality. As the girl, Giselle, waits for Prince Edward to find her, she befriends a divorce lawyer and his daughter and avoids the evil queen's attempts to poison her.
I recently rewatched Enchanted and found it slightly better. Specifically, I appreciated Giselle’s and Robert’s relationship more. I understood better why they’d like each other. In most love stories, it’s obvious who’s going to fall in love, but it’s not obvious why. It’s not even plausible. They just do because that’s how the story goes. The Proposal, Leap Year, and others I can't think of now. Those movies might tell a bit about the characters (they had their heart broken, they’re parents died or were unreliable, and so on). It doesn’t show a deep connection between them, though. I'm left wondering why they like, let alone love, each other. Enchanted is at least a shade better.
I know why Robert would like Giselle, because over the years, I’ve grown more cynical and been surrounded by cynical people who bring me down more than I bring me down. It would be nice to have one dreaming optimist around. Not too many. They would get annoying, just as the cynics do. But I’d like one, and that’s what Giselle is for Robert. I’m less sure why Giselle likes Robert. Maybe she appreciates that he uses his greater knowledge and practicality to help her, even though she doesn't agree with his cynicism.
When I first saw Enchanted, I thought it was another “they fall in love because we told the audience this was a romance” movie, like Proposal and Leap Year. I've changed my mind about Enchanted. It has reason behind the romance, which is not as shallow as I thought but not very deep or convincing. It would be easier to believe Giselle and Robert were friends with a strong chance at romance. They fall unrealistically fast, but of course the movie was only 107 minutes, and such is the way with Disney movies. I doubt I'll change my mind about the other movies (Proposal, Leap Year), though, because they’re so shallow. In The Proposal, the leads hardly spend time together, for one thing, and both movies employ the cliché: “We hate each other. Wait, now we’re madly in love.” Ri-ight. Like a couple days and fake-kisses could make people forget they hate each other and get married. Anyone that works on is too dumb to live. Enchanted is better than that because Robert and Giselle never hate or dislike each other. They get annoyed and overwhelmed but could still fall in love.
After rewatching the movie, I realized that Giselle develops without completely changing, which is a hard balance to achieve in fiction. She’s still sweet, but by the end, she’s smarter and less giddy, more mature. For example, she becomes engrossed in a book about Great Women of our Time, and one can imagine she felt inspired to do something great.
The rest of the movie is acceptable. The animation is beautiful but not as good as Princess and the Frog’s. The songs are tuneful but not as fun as most of Menken’s work (Be Our Guest, Never had a Friend like Me, etc.). The plot IS there, barely. The acting is believable sometimes, annoying at others. The characters are nothing special but are likable. Robert is a heartbroken cynic but kind and helpful. Giselle is annoyingly happy at first but grows and matures. Prince Edward is annoyingly dumb and conceited but not in a cruel way, often showing (brainless) concern for Pip and Giselle. At first, I found Nathaniel gross and unsympathetic, which he IS when he tries to kill people. However, after imagining him as a woman and the evil queen as a man, I felt bad for him and cheered when he helped stop the evil queen. I guess I’m more sensitive to the love-related suffering of females. Don't bite my head off though. I realize I should be just as sensitive to the suffering of males.
Enchanted is entertaining but fairly vapid.
6/10
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