If you are seeing this movie because of the book with which it shares its title (and not much else), spare yourself.
Had this been an original film, not based on anything, I might have enjoyed it somewhat as a bit of silly fun. But it continually advertised its self as a film translation of a book that is near and dear to my heart, a book which I had been longing to see made into a well-done film.
Unfortunately, when it comes to being a translation of the book, the movie is pure garbage. They've taken the most basic premise of the plot, the names of the characters (in most cases, ONLY the names), and discarded just about everything else. The characters are, for the most part, shallow reflections of themselves (if they're even recognizable at all), and the plot has become silly, cheesy, and full of pointless and totally unnecessary pop-culture references. Gone are the interesting and well developed character interactions, and Ella's curse, which in the book was a constant source of true emotional and physical discomfort, is, with the exception of its use as a catalyst in the end of the film, mainly exploited as comic relief. This was a story that would have made a wonderful movie on it's own merits. It didn't need to be put through the MTV Hollywood wringer.
And no matter what anyone says... you can't call something "Ella Enchanted" if it has no stair rail.
Had this been an original film, not based on anything, I might have enjoyed it somewhat as a bit of silly fun. But it continually advertised its self as a film translation of a book that is near and dear to my heart, a book which I had been longing to see made into a well-done film.
Unfortunately, when it comes to being a translation of the book, the movie is pure garbage. They've taken the most basic premise of the plot, the names of the characters (in most cases, ONLY the names), and discarded just about everything else. The characters are, for the most part, shallow reflections of themselves (if they're even recognizable at all), and the plot has become silly, cheesy, and full of pointless and totally unnecessary pop-culture references. Gone are the interesting and well developed character interactions, and Ella's curse, which in the book was a constant source of true emotional and physical discomfort, is, with the exception of its use as a catalyst in the end of the film, mainly exploited as comic relief. This was a story that would have made a wonderful movie on it's own merits. It didn't need to be put through the MTV Hollywood wringer.
And no matter what anyone says... you can't call something "Ella Enchanted" if it has no stair rail.