Movie Review: Happily N'Ever After

Stars: 3 out of 5
Pros: Good basic story that will entertain kids

Cons: Everything underdeveloped

The Bottom Line:

A great idea

But execution subpar

Movie for the kids

Fractured Fairy Tale for the Kids

Ever since Shrek was released and became a big hit, fractured fairytales seem to be super popular. Happily N'Ever After is the latest in the genre. While kids will probably love it, adults won't find it as enchanting.

Our story takes place in Fairytale Land, a kingdom populated by every fairytale character you've ever met. The balance between good and evil is maintained by a wizard (George Carlin) who makes sure that every story follows the book.

The time has come for Cinderella (Sarah Michelle Gellar) to have her fairytale ending. The Prince (named Humperdink. A nod to Princess Bride? Either way, he's voiced by Patrick Warburton) is hosting a ball on his twenty-first birthday. Cinderella is set to go and fall in love, just as the story dictates.

This doesn't sit well with Rick (Freddie Prinze, Jr.). He's a servant in the castle and has fallen for the beautiful Cinderella. Fighting a bad case of prince envy, he wonders why he never gets a happy ending.

While all this is happening, the wizard decides to go on vacation and he turns things over to his two assistants, Munk and Mambo (Wallace Shawn and Andy Dick). Mambo wants to add a bit of variety to the stories while the wizard is away, and the two start fighting.

Overhearing their fight is Frieda (Sigourney Weaver). She's Cinderella's evil step mother. She seizes the golden opportunity to take over the kingdom and tip the scales toward evil. Now it's up to Cinderella and a very reluctant Rick to return happy endings to Fairytale Land.

I'm always up for a good fractured fairytale and find most animated movies quite entertaining, so this movie looked promising to me. Unfortunately, the best parts are shown in the previews.

The biggest problem with the movie is the lack of development. I kept waiting for the story to get somewhere. Everything felt rushed, like it knew what it had to do and wanted to get it over with as quickly as possible, so we just moved from plot point to plot point. Even the song that Rick and Cinderella sing is rushed and empty.

The characters also suffered from the lack of development. Outside of basic motivations, I didn't feel I knew any of them, so it was hard to truly root for them. With no emotional connection, I just sat back and observed them going through the motions.

While the movie had some funny lines, the humor suffered as well. The Prince was one exception. He is a complete airhead who must consult a book for just about everything. This running gag was great. Most everyone else, however, pretty much played it straight with the occasional funny line thrown in. These lines did make me laugh, but not as often as I expected.

The animation is very stylized. Every character seems to have at least one odd angel. The backgrounds are not as detailed as Pixar's usually are. They are still quite lovely, however. For this movie it works, and I really have no complaints.

Unfortunately, I have a complaint in the voice acting category. While most everyone did a great job, something about Sigourney Weaver's voice bothered me. It almost felt like she was just going through the motions and not really acting. Anytime she was on screen, I was pulled out of the movie.

Even with all these complaints, Happily N'Ever After isn't a bad film. It will easily entertain its target audience – kids. However, parents won't enjoy watching this one with their kids.