THIS is how you do an anachronistic fairytale send-up. With sincerity and humor, it firmly commits to its high-concept idea (her "gift" of perfect obedience). The biggest surprise is how much it has to say about patriarchy, class disparity, systemic bigotry, and feminist autonomy, all without losing its light charm.

Anna Hathaway's Ella enchanted is a delightful slice of family oriented fun that just about anyone can enjoy. Anne Hathaway was a great choice to play Ella, she's innocent and radiates kindness and has a very fairytale like essence to her. Hugh Dancy is a great prince, I'll be honest and say that I don't know whether I would've liked another actor better, he was good, but i don't know that he was the best choice. Hathaway is different because she was for sure the best choice, I don't think anyone else could've played Ella like she did. Vivica A. Fox is here too, she plays the Lucinda, the fairy that gave Ella the "gift" of obedience when she was a baby. All the cast does a good job with their roles and they enhance the film overall. The script is pretty well written, it achieves what it sets out to do and it keeps you interested, especially with the scenes where Ella and Char are together. They both have good natural romantic chemistry and the script provides them with good dialogue. The set designs are commendable and they are very appealing to look at, the same goes for the costumes. The movie has its moments of heart and romance, humor, and it's times of adventure. 8/10 for Ella enchanted. Great pick for a family movie night!

Ella Enchanted incorporates real life characters with a magical fairytale-like world. The plot combines a romantic love story with humor and action and adventure, which makes this movie perfect for brightening your mood. One could say that this movie has a lack of originality. The plot much resembles that of the Cinderella Story. Like the character Cinderella, Ella is misfortune with an evil stepmother and two sisters, who strive to make Ella's life miserable. Also, Cinderella's stepsisters try to intervene in Cinderella's relationship with the prince, just as Olive and Hattie (Ella's stepsisters), try to prevent Ella from marrying Prince Charmont. A difference in these two stories however, is that Cinderella's godmother helps her, whereas Ella's godmother is the source of her problems. Although this movie was intended for a younger audience, I would recommend not allowing very young children to watch it. There are bar scenes that show many intoxicated people, and Lucinda is also drunk in a few scenes. Although surrounded by alcohol at the bar scene, Prince Charmont and Ella do not participate in such activities, which may serve as a good example to young children. However, the script of the movie contains slightly crude humor that some parents may consider inappropriate for their younger children. At several moments during the movie, I was frustrated with Ella's situation. For example, since Ella was forced to kill Char because Edgar ordered her too, the simple solution would seem to be for Ella to tell someone to order her not to follow Edgar's command. Perhaps the curse would not make that possible, but the exact parameters of the curse were not explicitly stated in the movie. Another part of the movie that was frustrating is that Ella kept her curse a secret from Prince Charmont. I understand why she didn't tell anyone else, because they would just take advantage of her. It would have made her life much easier if she had told Char about her curse, especially when Edgar ordered her to kill Char. However, Ella not telling Char about the curse is what makes the proposal scene and the rest of the movie more suspenseful. In the beginning of the movie when Ella's mother is passing, her mother tells her "what's inside you is stronger than any spell". I didn't realize until towards the end of the movie that this foreshadowed the proposal scene. Ella's love for Prince Charmont was so strong that it defeated her dreadful curse. In the moment where Ella is holding the dagger over Char's head, she is overwhelmed with her mother's voice saying, "What's inside you is stronger than any curse". I think that is an excellent use of this quote, especially since it was her mother's advice and last words. Ella Enchanted was released in 2004, but the movie soundtrack consists of some songs dating back to the seventies. "Somebody to Love" by Queen, is played when Ella is ordered to sing and dance in the bar at Giantville. Instead of joining in, Char stands back and watches Ella. Because of the lyrics and the moment of time in the movie, I thought that something climatic was going to happen regarding their relationship, but nothing happened. I was disappointed that Char didn't join Ella in dancing because it would have been the first romantic moment between them. The closing song is from the 90's – "Don't' Go Breaking My Heart" by Elton John and RuPaul. In this final scene, the entire cast is in the castle. Regardless of each character's role in the movie, good or evil, they all join together in dancing. The choreography is more cheesy than impressive, but that's one of the reasons why this movie is great for a younger audience.

The protagonist, Ella, has been gifted/ cursed with obedience as she was a baby, by the woefully incompetent fairy godmother. All her life, she is forced to do things she doesn't want to/ mean to do simply because somebody told her to.She managed to grow up without serious issues, but now, her dad has remarried and given her two step-sisters, who just found out that they can manipulate her to do anything they want. She decides to go seek out her godmother and force her to take back her 'gift'. On the way, she meets up with the prince of the nation and his corrupt, power-hungry uncle. She also fights for the ogres, giants, elves and others who had been exiled by the kingdom by the villain.I would call it a Shrek-inspired live action movie. The plot is aimed at kids, but is fairly enjoyable throughout. You have Dr. Seuss-like prose used by the narrator, puns (the prince charming of this tale is called Prince Char), features inner references (Elves are not that short... It's just a myth propagated by the Grimm brothers, Ella is forced to steal some glass slippers, etc), and ripe with anachronisms (The story is set in medieval times, but shows a mechanical, manually operated escalator, references a magazine called 'Medeival Teens', has the prince going to inaugurate a mall, an anti-aging stew made of bat feces and something from oxen - called batox, etc...)Overall, it was enjoyable. The song and dance bits felt weirdly out of place, however.