Most people heard fairytales while they were growing up. Several of them have been turned into movies over the years. Most of the fairytale movies that I've seen and enjoyed have been animated, but there have been some entertaining live action fairytale movies as well. Ella Enchanted was one of them.

When she was a baby, Ella was given the gift of obedience by her fairy godmother Lucinda. She learned about the gift while she was still a child and came to think of it as a curse instead of a gift. It did cause Ella to end up in some unique situations since she had to obey anytime someone gave her an order no matter what it was. After her mother died, Ella’s father eventually married Dame Olga. Ella ended up with two awful stepsisters, Hattie and Olive.

It didn’t take long for Hattie to figure out that Ella would do anything she was told to do and she took great joy in making Ella do all kinds of things. Ella was tired of living with the curse and decided that she was going to find Lucinda and get her to take it back. During her journey, Ella met some new friends, including Prince Char. He ended up traveling with her and saw many things that his uncle, Sir Edgar, was responsible for. Sir Edgar had been ruling after the death of Char’s father.

I don’t remember hearing that Ella Enchanted was based on a book when it was originally released. I first saw the movie when I rented it and hadn’t watched all of it again until just recently. I only discovered that the movie was based on a book when I was double checking cast information. I obviously haven’t read the book since I didn’t even know it existed, so I have no idea how close to the book the plot of the movie stayed. I’m guessing that at least a few things were changed since that tends to happen when movies are based on books.

I thought that Ella Enchanted was a fun fairytale movie that was very entertaining. Most of the fairytale movies that I’ve seen have shared some elements. The most obvious of those elements included in this movie was the evil stepmother and nasty stepsisters as well as the fact that Ella had a fairy godmother. Lucinda was far from what I would think of a typical fairy godmother though, which did add a bit of uniqueness to the movie. I thought that the gift or curse also added some uniqueness to the movie. Any other time a fairy godmother has given a gift to a baby, or any character for that matter, it hasn’t been something that turned out to be a curse instead of a gift. It has always been villain characters who have given out curses. I thought the way that all the girls in the kingdom went nuts over Prince Char and even had a fan club for him was a bit different as well. The traditional elements were twisted just enough to make the movie different.

Ella Enchanted was very entertaining and I thought the plot worked well. The movie wasn’t complicated even though there was a decent amount of things happening. The majority of the movie was focused on Ella trying to find Lucinda to give back the gift of obedience. I think the movie was really about Ella trying to assert her independence and be able to live without having to worry about being forced to do things she didn’t want to do. Subplots dealt with Ella’s new evil step-family, Price Char, Sir Edgar, and the bad conditions that many of the magical beings in the kingdom had to live under. I thought that all of the plot elements blended together very well and for an entertaining movie. The plot wasn’t extremely developed, but that fit for the length of the movie and the fact that it was a fairytale.

I felt that there was a good amount of humor used throughout Ella Enchanted. When Ella was forced to do things, so did end up doing some funny things a few times. Those things did make me laugh. The talking book was unique and added more funny things. Some of what was done for comedy in the movie was a bit silly which will probably bother some viewers. There weren’t any gross jokes, which was a nice change from what tends to be done in many comedies, even ones aimed at families, now. There were a few more serious moments in the movie as well. Those moments tended to happen when Ella was trying to deal with certain aspects of the curse, especially later in the movie. Those moments did work for the movie.

Most fairytale movies that I’ve seen have included romance in some way. Ella Enchanted was no different. I didn’t feel that the romance was the main focus of the movie like has happened in other fairytale movies. All of the girls in the kingdom, except for Ella, were crazy about Prince Char and would chase him if they happened to see him. They acted like fans at a rock concert, complete with screaming and waving signs. Ella and Prince Char ended up spending time together during their journey and they got to know each other in a fairly short time. It was clear that they had feelings for each other. There weren’t any sexual situations or discussions in the movie. Only a few kisses were shown.

Music was used extensively throughout Ella Enchanted. Several more popular songs were used, though the songs were performed by other people instead of the original artists. It was a little odd to hear some of the songs being sung by other people. The songs did fit in well with the movie. Anne Hathaway did sing a few of the songs. It was made to look like some of the other cast was also singing at times, though I don’t know for sure if the actors were the ones actually singing or not.

Ella was a very sweet, nice girl who was tired of people taking advantage of her because of the curse. She was very independent and tended to be outspoken on things she felt strongly about. Anne Hathaway was wonderful in the part. She even showed off her singing talent during a few songs. I had no idea she could sing before seeing this movie. Prince Char was nice and did care about the people in the kingdom but he was a bit naive when it came to his uncle. Hugh Dancy handled the part well. Slannen was an elf who wanted to be a lawyer that Ella became friends with and he ended up helping her more than once.

Sir Edgar was not a nice guy. He was probably more evil even than Ella’s stepmother and stepsisters. Edgar wanted to rule and he didn’t have a problem doing some extreme things to reach that goal. Cary Elwes was very good in the part. Heston was Edgar’s pet snake who could take and helped Edgar with his plotting. The voice that Steve Coogan did fit the character well. Even though I know Heston wasn’t real and was created with CGI, he still freaked me out and I didn’t like seeing him show up.

Ella’s father was barely in the movie and didn’t do much when he was around. Dame Olga married him thinking he had more money than he did. The woman was very nasty and didn’t waste any time in trying to take over everything. Joanna Lumley was good in the part. Hattie and Olive were her two daughters. They were both obsessed with Prince Char with Hattie being determined to marry him. Olive acted like a complete air head most of the time. Hattie was just downright mean, especially to Ella, and I couldn’t stand her.

Mandy was a fairy who sort of worked as a housekeeper for Ella’s family. Mandy had been with the family since Ella was a baby. Mandy was very nice, but she had trouble with her magic, which is how she managed to turn her boyfriend Benny into a talking book. She wasn’t in that much of the movie, so Minnie Driver didn’t have a lot to do. Lucinda was Ella’s fairy godmother. Everyone seemed to feel that her gifts were horrible, but she thought they were wonderful and got very upset if anyone dared to suggest differently. Vivica A. Fox was fine in the part. Eric Idle turned up a few times as the narrator to the story.

Main Cast

Steve Coogan - Voice of Heston
Hugh Dancy - Prince Char
Minnie Driver - Mandy
Cary Elwes - Sir Edgar
Vivica A. Fox - Lucinda
Anne Hathaway - Ella
Jennifer Higham - Olive
Eric Idle - Narrator
Heidi Klum - Brumhilda
Joanna Lumley - Dame Olga
Aidan McArdle - Slannen
Jimmy Mistry - Benny
Lucy Punch - Hattie

Tommy O’Haver - Director

DVD Information

I own the widescreen version and I think there is also a full screen version available. The disc includes a commentary with the director, Dancy, and Hathaway, deleted and extended scenes, a music video, a featurette called The Magical World of Ella Enchanted, something on the premiere of the movie, a game connected to the fan club for Prince Char, and a DVD-ROM feature called Happily Ever After.

Ella Enchanted was a fun, entertaining fairytale movie that is family friendly. People who enjoy this type of movie or fans of the cast may also like the movie.

Anne Hathaway Movie Reviews
The Devil Wears Prada ~ Hoodwinked ~ The Princess Diaries ~ The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement ~


Recommended: Yes

Viewing Format: DVD