Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Enchanted (2007)

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Posted by Jonathan M. Crist (Member # 413) on 11-25-2007, 10:51 AM:

The difference between satire and parody is how subtle you are. And Enchanted (for all its whimsical aspirations) is anything but subtle. This picture gives new meaning to the term "trying too hard". At times I thought I was watching a remake of "Snow White and the Three Stooges".

From the widely varying look and feel of Enchanted, I got the impression that it may have started out as being intended for the direct to video market - and after filming had started a decision was made to "pump it up" for theatrical release. From all the Disney marketing, I had really expected something truly magical (e.g "Mary Poppins") and what I saw on screen was run-of-the-mill fare.

2 stars out of 5.

Posted by Kyle Anderson (Member # 3504) on 11-25-2007, 12:13 PM:

I found this film fantastic... I'd even go so far as to say it was better than The Lion King. Disney has rediscovered their own formula for box office juggernauts - fun, goofy stuff for the kids and, more subtly, stuff for their parents, too. None of it taken too seriously, of course. [Smile]

5/5

Posted by Charles Phillips (Member # 2594) on 11-25-2007, 03:27 PM:

This is possibly the worst piece of trash to ever soil my projectors. What waste of skin ok this movie? They should be beaten until they bleed out of their eyes.

Ok maybe it wasn't that bad but it sure wasn't good.

Posted by Brad Allen (Member # 470) on 11-26-2007, 03:41 PM:

Good film. Lots of references to older Disney titles that will be over most folks heads.

A film that any age can enjoy.
Walt is smiling for once. [Wink]

Amy Adams did a fantastic job.
4.5 out of 5 stars.

Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 11-26-2007, 10:34 PM:

I'm surprised at the vehement dumping by a couple of posters above. It's not the best Disney film in history, but it certainly isn't the worst either. Far from it. As of last night, it had a 93% "fresh" rating on rottentomatoes.com, so the critics are liking it as well.

I found myself enjoying it a lot more than I thought I would. Some good laughs, especially the "Happy Working Song" segment. The actors were uniformly good -- I can't imagine anyone other than Amy Adams in that role. She pulls off the ultra-cuteness and makes it OK (whereas if they'd put somebody ultra-famous like Julia Roberts in there, it would have been awful).

Susan Sarandon obviously had a great time as the wicked queen. The other actors were on-target as well, especially the little girl.

It was also a nice touch to have Julie Andrews narrating. I've always liked her voice.

I enjoyed the way the title sequence, with the "classic" font and the opening storybook, harked back to the older Disney animated movies -- yet brought into the 21st century with the popup book features.

The songs were good. The damn things stick in your head for hours after the show ends. On a similar note, it's good that there weren't TOO many songs.

The only complaints I would have (and I always need to have a couple, it seems) was that the ending battle seemed sort of tacked on, and they should have deepened Sarandon's voice somehow when she morphed into the dragon...would have been wicked scary.

It's good to be playing a movie where the majority of the audience walks out all smiles. I give this three-star movie an extra star just for that. Therefore, 4 out of 5 stars from me.

Posted by Paul Linfesty (Member # 214) on 11-26-2007, 10:58 PM:

While I genually liked this movie, I was still disappointed, primarily because of the praise heaped on it. By the sounds of it, you'd think it was right up there with MARY POPPINS, and it comes nowhere close. The songs are the biggest disappointment. However, by today's standards, the film actually does work, and if I hadn't read the praises for the film in advance, It would have gotten a higher response from me. So I could still recommend it. Performances were quite good, and maybe its time Disney did start spoofing itself. They actually pulled it off quite well.

Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 11-27-2007, 10:37 AM:

Disney's getting quite clever at spoofing itself. It's really noticable in the theme parks. But it's not really new there...Jungle Cruise often contains the line, "We have no idea where this leads...what am I saying, it's Disney, it leads to a gift shop!"

Posted by Lyle Romer (Member # 1266) on 11-27-2007, 10:45 AM:

I thought this was a great family movie/romantic comedy. It was funny, fun and very well acted. The casting was perfect, it had a nice story and some fun songs.

I also liked the "classic" beginning (and the pillar boxed cartoon that opens to full scope when they go live action).

4.5 stars out of 5 from me. This is the first (non-pixar) Disney family film (probably since Lion King) in a long time that I'd actually want to see again.

Posted by Sam Graham (Member # 2889) on 11-28-2007, 01:46 PM:

CINEMA: Megaplex 17 at Jordan Commons, Sandy, UT
AUDITORIUM: 14
PRESENTATION: Dolby Digital Cinema DLP/THX
PRESENTATION PROBLEMS: None [Cool]

RATING: Three stars (out of four)

WARNING: "You've met your match, foul Spoilers!"

Boy, this is one of those that could go either way...but that first hour was brilliant. James Marsden stole every scene he was in. Loads of fun.

The second half is about a half hour too long and I agree with Mike on the ending.

Still, worth the bother.

Posted by Mark Lensenmayer (Member # 134) on 12-03-2007, 09:22 AM:

This is an absolutely charming movie. I really enjoyed it.

I do have to agree that the film starts to drag a bit in the second half, and the ending seemed very rushed, as if they realized it was taking too long, and they just wanted to get it over with.

There is some excellent 2-D animation here, with some very nice multi-plane effects, much like many of the classic Disney films. The effects in general were very good with a lot of detail. The people who made this film seemed to really care about making a good film. The transitions from the pop-up book pages are very very well done.

Many, MANY Disney references, including small roles by 3 of the recent classic Disney voices: Jody Benson-Little Mermaid, Paige O'Hara-(Beauty & the Beast) and Judy Kuhn (Pocahontas).

Performances are very good, especially Amy Adams. Her character must absolutely believe she is a true princess, and she plays it perfectly.

A nice way to spend a couple of hours. I think the housecleaning scene will become a true classic. On the academic scale, a strong B+.

[ 12-03-2007, 10:34 PM: Message edited by: Mark Lensenmayer ]

Posted by Brad Allen (Member # 470) on 12-03-2007, 07:25 PM:

It's really too bad it's not doing well in small towns. Strange.

Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 12-03-2007, 08:50 PM:

Yeah - it's certainly not doing the typical Disney business here. Considering the good word-of-mouth and the mostly positive reviews, it's puzzling.

I blame Christmas shopping combined with gas prices.

Posted by Jim Cassedy (Member # 4115) on 12-04-2007, 10:57 AM:

Regardless of how I liked the movie, the bottom line is "the bottom line"; and at least at my theater it has been a better than average money-maker for my boss. And that's a good thing. For him, for me, and the theater biz in general. I don't consider myself a critic so I'm generally reluctant to comment on the movies I show. But for whatever it's worth I found the movie somewhat 'charming'. Not the best Disney pic ever made but certainly not the worst. It's doing well enough that we're holding it over a 3rd week and thats all that really 'counts' at the box office.

Posted by Thomas Pitt (Member # 4322) on 12-20-2007, 03:37 PM:

CINEMA: Sheffield Cineworld
AUDITORIUM: 7 (the largest!)
PRESENTATION: 35mm with SDDS
PRESENTATION PROBLEMS: Surround channels were a little quiet
RATING: 5/5

I think this is the first time I've ever given a movie 5/5 here; I loved all the spoofs it makes particularly of old Disney movies! True, some of the movies it spoofs are ones I haven't seen (so didn't get the gags), but the rest of the movie holds up very well.

I'm glad they actually made it with the fairytale characters turning into 'real' people when they come into our world - I was worried that they'd do the animation/live action mixture that Disney have done in previous films. There was a little bit of it with the wicked stepmother, but that didn't spoil the movie at all.

I found myself laughing pretty much all the way through; the only real problem was that the film was a little too long for my liking.

Posted by Betsie Beadling (Member # 591) on 12-22-2007, 04:20 PM:

GAH!!!
I cant beleive people liked this
Lame Movie!!!! [Roll Eyes]