Drawing comparisons between Ella Enchanted and the previous box-office teen flick, Mean Girls, would be something short of inevitable especially since both are vehicles for their highly prolific lead actresses and cater largely to the teen/tween crowd. However, that is where the similarities end. While the latter was immensely successful (well, sort of~), the former bombed. Big time. But it isnt really difficult to see why...
With its fairytale-ish sets, tacky costumes and an even tackier story, Ella Enchanted comes across, initially, as a B-grade Shrek knock-off- meets-Cinderella-fable; replete with ogres, dwarves and a fairygodmother. Thank god then for the luminous Anne Hathaway, who manages to single-handedly rescue this movie from the depths of mediocrity. Like what she did with the rather contrived plot of Princess Diaries, Hathaway breathes life into her character with her brassy and likeable personality without being too saccharine sweet or appearing as if she's trying too hard. There's something about Hathaway's onscreen charisma which reminds me of a young Julia Roberts (minus the big hair and big teeth). Well anyway, Hathaway also performs a couple of songs in this film and I must admit, her singing is certainly more tolerable than either Duff's or Lohan's. ;)
Although I have plenty of room to sing praises of Hathaway, its really unfortunate that both the story and script leaves much to be desired. Most of the one-liners werent really that funny and the supporting cast werent very memorable either. Parminder Nagra, the petite Indian actress whom we last saw in Bend It Like Beckham, plays Hathaway's best friend but she vanishes halfway through the film and re-appears at the end during the finale (which I might add, was incredibly corny -- only kids below the age of ten could possibly enjoy it). In short, Ella Enchanted toys with alot of epic ideas (feminism, racial equality, democracy, human rights etc) but fails to explore any of them to satisfaction. Owing to the fantasy-inspired sets however, I would say this is excellent wholesome family fodder but I wouldnt really recommend it to anyone who's expecting something along the lines of the hip & cool Mean Girls. Nevertheless, seeing Hathaway perform should be well-worth the ticket price alone; she's about the only genuinely enchanting thing about this film...
my ratings -- 3.2/5 stars!!!
