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Ella Enchanted is by far the most schizophrenic film I have ever seen. It has elements of a fairy tale; a social commentary; Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon; Snakes on a Plane; and an 80's music video.
I had seen the previews and was prepared for something completely different from the book. I had heard from a friend that Ella Enchanted is a good movie with a cute story, if one can reconcile oneself to the fact that it is not Gail Carson Levine's award-winning story.
I sincerely wish I could remember who that friend was. I have good reason to question their judgment.
Ella Enchanted is the story of a young woman who was cursed at birth with the "gift of obedience." Anything that she is told to do, she does, no matter how impossible, or improbable.
The movie is fast-paced, zipping through the story so quickly that the audience never really gets to know the characters. They certainly don't have time to develop enough of a relationship with the characters to care about the final outcome of the film.
Ella Enchanted is blessed with one of the most widely-recognized characters in existence, however: the absentee villain. An absentee villain never really does anything at any point in the movie and interacts almost not at all with the protagonist. Also, the absentee villain has only one purpose--to be evil. Anyone who has seen the movie will agree that this is a fitting description for the king and his manipulative talking snake.
Obviously suffering an identity crisis and peppered with crude humor, the movie Ella Enchanted has none of the charm of the story on which it is based.
Ella Enchanted rating: Don't bother
