Ella Enchanted

Anne Hathaway has another prince to fall in love with.

Herald rating: * * *  

Anne Hathaway, star of tween-flick serial The Princess Diaries, must be one of the most talked about actresses in primary school playgrounds. She plays characters all pre-teen girls fantasise about; if she's not playing a princess, she's marrying a prince. Yes, not only does she get to wear a lot of tiaras, but there's a constant stream of good looking male co-stars to fall in love with.

In this tween comedy, Hathaway is the enchanted Ella, a teenage girl living in the medieval land of Frell, a fairy-tale world where all the characters are elves, ogres, fairies, giants, or horrid stepmothers. You will recognise the characters from other stories - just like Shrek, this is a fairy tale set in a fairy-tale world.

Ella's adventure begins when her mother dies and her father marries the wicked wealthy widow, Dame Olga, played by Joanna Lumley. When Dame Olga arrives with her two annoying daughters to live with Ella and her father, the new arrivals quickly realise Ella always does what she is told.

This is due to a gift of obedience bestowed on Ella as a newborn baby by party-going Fairy Lucinda. Previously Ella has managed to hide this gift from those around her, but when her new family catch on and start making her life hell she decides to set off in search of Lucinda so she can ask her to take the gift back.

Her journey takes her into the forest where she meets an ambitious elf, almost gets eaten by ogres, and is rescued by the charming Prince Char. Ella sweeps Prince Char off his feet with her fair and just political views and they fall madly in love, although there's still the small problem of Ella's obedience, which becomes a dangerous gift for the two of them.

The fabulous cast of Minnie Driver (a fairy who never really got the hang of her profession), Joanna Lumley and The Princess Bride's Cary Elwes make this film tolerable for parents accompanying their tweens. Ella's socially conscious character is refreshing, but the film is filled with too many current pop culture references, making it a film of the moment rather than a fairy-tale classic. Feel free to leave the cinema during the singing and dancing finale - you won't miss a thing.

CAST: Anne Hathaway, Vivica A Fox, Joanna Lumley, Minnie Driver
DIRECTOR: Tommy O'Haver
RUNNING TIME: 96 mins
RATING: PG (contains low level violence)
SCREENING: Village, Hoyts and Berkeley Cinemas