Ella Enchanted (2004) Movie Information:

Ella Enchanted (2004) Directed by: Tommy O'Haver Ella Enchanted (2004) Written by: Jennifer Heath, Michele Wolff, Laurie Craig, Karen McCullah Lutz, Kirsten Smith Ella Enchanted (2004) Cast: Anne Hathaway, Hugh Dancy, Cary Elwes, Vivica Fox, Joanna Lumley, Minnie Driver, Eric Idle, Steve Coogan, Patrick Bergin, Heidi Klum

Ella Enchanted (2004) U.S. Distributor: Miramax Ella Enchanted (2004) U.K. Distributor: Buena Vista

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Ella Enchanted (2004) Synopsis:

Ella lives in a fanciful and magical world where all children are given a "gift" from a fairy Godmother at the moment of their birth. Little Ella's birthright is the gift--and curse--of obedience. As a result of this unfortunate circumstance, Ella cannot refuse any command, and is often left at the mercy of unscrupulous personalities. In a bid to regain control of her life, Ella goes on a quest to free herself from this mysterious curse. Ella must outwit a kingdom filled with ogres, giants, wicked stepsisters, talking books and evil plots. And, if she's lucky, she may find love along the way.

Ella Enchanted (2004) Movie Review:

After been given a ‘gift’ as a baby by her Fairy Godmother Lucinda (Fox), Ella (Hathaway) would have to spend the rest of her life been obedient. In other words, if someone told her to do something, she had to do it. When her father married Dame Olga (Lumley), her family expanded to include two stepsisters Hattie (Punch) and Olive (Higham) who found out her secret and exploited her at every opportunity. Tired of been used by her new family, Ella sets out to find Lucinda and ask her to remove the spell.

Combining modern music and fairy tales has been done to amazing success in the world of animation but could this successfully transfer to live action?

Based on the novel by Gail Carson Levine, ‘Ella Enchanted’ takes modern music and ideals and transports them into a world of Giants, Knights, Elves and Ogres. This is a world ruled by a tyrant that has forced all the non-humans into servitude, so it is up to our heroine to save the day and unite the all the different people. While in the realm of fairy tales this might not sound that unique, but the movie takes a fresh approach and makes this tale very up to date.

This is another movie that is meant to showcase the talents of Anne Hathaway and it succeeds. She is an instantly likeable actress that has everything to appeal to her target audience for this movie, young girls. She is very pleasant, extremely appeal and while she is very pretty, she is not totally stunning to the point that no one can connect with her. The main thing she has going for her is that is extremely nice. This is a girl that the audience would like to be friends with and this is Anne Hathaway’s appeal. As Ella, she personifies this by making the obedient character instantly likeable and easy to get behind. This is a role that she excels in but it would be in good to see her in a more challenging roles.

Her supporting cast is also good. Hugh Dancy is the love interest of the piece and is the typical Prince Charming. In fact his name is actually Prince Charm. He plays the role with a certain about of daring do and charm that will instantly appeal to the target audience. Aidan McArdle is also good as Slannen, an elf that wants to break away from the traditional singing and dancing niche that elves have been forced into and become a lawyer. There are also noticeable cameo roles from Minnie Driver, Vivica A. Fox, Eric Idle and Joanna Lumley, who all bring something to their roles.

Ella Enchanted is a nice film that will really appeal to its target audience. This is another showcase for the talents of Anne Hathaway, in which she also gets to sing, and she is surrounded by an accomplished supporting cast making this a good family film and a live action update of the fairy tale movie.

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Ella Enchanted (2004) review written by: Jamie Kelwick