Movie Review: Enchanted

A bewitching idea that starts with gallant success, Disney's newest movie "Enchanted" is a blend of traditional animation and live action that is sure to delight the younger audiences. The initial setup is so fantastically silly that the crabbiest of folks are bound to melt under the numbing gaze of Amy Adams naively flirty eyes and the reality-infused fairyland events and their concomitantly humorous circumstances. But the love triangle, the focus on separation of reality and fantasy, and a fearsome dragon are predicaments that the film's reality aspects struggle to smoothly resolve, especially when fantasy was needed to instigate them in the first place.

The evil Queen Narissa (Susan Sarandon) becomes fearful of losing her kingdom of Andalasia to her stepson Prince Edward (James Marsden), should he ever find true love. When Edward suddenly announces his wedding with newfound beauty Giselle (Amy Adams), the wrathful sorceress throws her into a wishing well that transports her to present-day Manhattan. Completely contrary to the carefree, song-and-dance lifestyle of her colorful, happy home, Giselle is greeted with skepticism and unkind faces in New York as she desperately tries to seek help returning to her castle. Prince Edward learns of her disappearance, and jumps down the wishing well himself, aided by footservant Nathaniel (Timothy Spall), to rescue his true love. Giselle meets Robert (Patrick Dempsey), the only one who is amicable enough to help her, but he quickly finds that her cartoon-fantasy lifestyle is destroying the stability of his big-city life. When Narissa discovers that Giselle is dangerously close to rescue, she visits New York herself to ensure that she'll never return to the magical kingdom of Andalasia.