Ella Enchanted

B+

It is time to enter the enchanted world of fabulous Frell, a land unlike any other Cinderellian setting anyone has ever seen. It is a semi-medieval town, yet speckled here and there with modern references. Picture a shopping mall – complete with wooden escalator – and a community center and Frell Community College.

Anne Hathaway, who after “The Princess Diaries” and “Ella Enchanted” has mastered clumsy, comedic roles, stars as the Cinderella of Frell. She has the typical good-hearted character of a Cinderella, but she is a modern-day woman. She’s outspoken, has strong ideals and is not dreaming of prince charming. She even stages pro-ogre, elf and giant protests.

The Prince Charming (Hugh Dancy) is of course handsome, but hates the political spotlight and is reluctant to be a leader. He is scheduled to take over the kingdom very shortly from his uncle, King Edgar, played by “The Princess Bride” star Cary Elwes. Elwes is no stranger to funky fairy tale films.

The king has a snake as his trusty sidekick that aids him in his evil endeavors. The snake, though funny at times, seems superfluous and is only present to have a talking animal element in the film. He does fill the king in on some useful information, but the prince soon retells it to him anyway. This story follows many aspects of the common Cinderella tale in that

Ella’s widowed father marries a nasty woman and two prince-loving stepsisters complete the package. The sisters begin to wallpaper their new bedroom walls with posters of the prince and one sister is even the president of the Prince’s fan club.

The Prince is not impressed by Ella’s stepsisters, but finds himself quite intrigued by Ella. She wants nothing to do with him because she does not believe in his or his uncle’s political decisions. It seems the more Ella loathes the prince, the more he loves her. He tries to be chivalrous, but she will have none of it unless she inadvertently gets into a sticky situation.

Every child in Frell is given a special gift at birth and Ella’s is obedience. She must obey every command that every person gives her. It turns out to be more of a curse than a gift. One of the stepsisters figures out Ella’s “gift” and uses it to her advantage. The curse is forcing Ella to do some very bad things that her character should not do. To remedy this, she goes on a quest to find the fairy who gave her the “gift.”

The film is a Cinderella story with ogres, elves, giants, talking books and politics. Ella doesn’t cook or clean like the typical Cinderella, but she suffers just as much under the necessary curse. There are so many versions of Cinderella, and yet, amazingly there is some way to change the story’s details again to make it different from all the others.

“Ella Enchanted” is a wonderfully comedic and warm story that brings new light to an old tale.