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'Happily N'Ever After' a 'Grimm' tale

Movie Review: Happily N'Ever After

By JD Alfone

2theadvocate.com

Frieda (voiced by Sigourney Weaver) in "Happily N'Ever After."
Courtesy of Lionsgate
Frieda (voiced by Sigourney Weaver) in "Happily N'Ever After."

Happily N'Ever After
PLAY OFFICIAL TRAILER
Starring:
Sarah Michelle Gellar, Freddie Prinze, Jr., Andy Dick, Wallace Shawn
Crew:
Director, Paul J. Bolger; Writer, Robert Moreland
(Running time: 1 hr. 15 min.)
MPAA Rating: PG
Critic's Rating: out of 4 stars.
With films like "Cars," "Ice Age: The Meltdown," "Over the Hedge" and "Happy Feet" all passing the $100 million mark at the box office during 2006, Hollywood seems to have made an effort to put an animated movie in theaters whenever possible.

From the producers of “Shrek" and "Shrek 2" comes "Happily N'Ever After," a new animated movie that offers a rather contemporary interpretation of some great age-old fairy tales.

Based on the Brothers Grimm fairy tales and featuring the voices of several A-list actors, "Happily N'Ever After" is the story of Ella -- a Cinderella tale gone terribly awry.

When the wizard (George Carlin) who maintains order in Fairy Tale Land decides to take a vacation, he leaves his power in the hands of two bumbling assistants, a monkey-like cat named Mambo (Andy Dick) and a diligent pig called Munk (Wallace Shawn).

Chaos ensues as Frieda (Sigourney Weaver), Ella’s evil stepmother, steals a magical staff and decides to let the “bad guys” finally become the winners. It is then up to Ella (Sarah Michelle Gellar)to throw off her damsel-in-distress persona and save the day without a Prince Charming.

“Happily N'Ever After” is technically flawless and includes bright computer-generated 3-D animation and a lively musical score.

Unfortunately, it also seems to drag on a bit. At one hour and fifteen minutes, this movie may be shorter than most films in the theaters today; however, it feels much, much longer.

In addition, Rick and Frieda were the only characters in this film that actually showed any depth. The rest of the inhabitants of Fairy Tale Land all seemed rather one-dimensional.

While there is much creativity in re-interpreting these fairy tales, this is undoubtedly still a children's movie that lacks the rich characterization and storytelling of films like “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone” and “The Incredibles.”

Fans of the original Grimm stories may even find that some of the magic that made the original fairy tales special is missing in this film.

 

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