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This flick may be the spawn of Shrek & Shrek 2
(one gets the feeling that the so called 'producer' had very little
involvement besides agreeing to have his name used on the promotional
posters) but it is without doubt the Black Sheep of the family. The slightly 'slower' child of the CGI bunch.
Set in Fairy Tale Land, the latest whizzbang CGI
comedy features all your favourite heroes and villains of stories from your childhood - everyone from Rumpelstiltskin
to Sleeping Beauty. The job of the castle's wizard (George Carlin) is to ensure
everyone has happy endings, but when he leaves on vacation he entrusts
his tasks to his inept assistants (a rather feeble attempt at a "Timon and Pumba" for the new generation).
With
the Wizard away, Cinderella’s evil stepmother
(the surprisingly sexy Sigourney Weaver) begins to wreak havoc on the
endings of all the fairy tales. With all hope lost, it is up to Ella
(Sarah Michelle Gellar as a short haired, funky version of Cinderella)
to find Prince Charming and save the day with the help from The King's
servant, Rick (Freddie Prinze, Jr.) who is in love with Ella
himself.
There are sadly to many things that go against Happily N'Ever After
to stop it from being a half decent enjoyable kids flick. Now, let's
face it, all to often animated or children's movies get blasted by 60
year old critics for not having enough "plot and pathos" - which I
always get quite annoyed by. Had you found a 5 year old to review the
same film, they may very well be claiming it to be the greatest thing
since the Rainbow Billabong.
So I like to go into watching these sort of flicks with an open mind. But the biggest problem here, for mine, is that Happily is trying desperately to appeal to the parents (much like Shrek)
as well as the kiddies - and fails miserably. Which is a real problem,
because many of the jokes will go over the heads of the kids - and will
be greeted with barely a chuckle from an accompanying guardian. It's
wasted script time.
And that's a shame, because when the movie does target in on the Under 10's, it works a treat.
Admittedly, the animation (which varies from fantastic to woeful) and
voice dubbing (it's one of the main drawbacks of the film, simply
terrible syncing and the delivery is stunted and patronising) degrades
the film quickly to the level of a CGI-Straight-To-DVD-Barbie movie.
It's the look of the main characters that let the film down at the end of the day, as they
control the majority of the screen time - and really seem quite cheap
and rushed when compared not only to the likes of Shrek - but some of the other characters in the actual film.
It's
not all bad news though. Some of the character animation looks superb
(in particular the Seven Dwarves and the castle's 3 French Chefs) and
will easily get a smile out of the littlies - but more importantly,
sell some merchandise!
Weaver does a great job as the evil
Step Mother (who gives the character a self depreciating human touch)
as does the often forgotten Freddie Prinze Jnr (who has now been
replaced in Hollywood by Shia Labouffe).
By no means a classic, but good enough to distract the kids for at least one afternoon.
EXTRAS
Plenty
of extras on offer, although, not the sort that are going to keep the
kids entertained for to long. Again, it's a strange case of the
creators trying too hard at winning over the adult audience and not
concentrating enough on the kiddie audience.
There's several
interesting behind the scenes featurettes which cover everything from
the conception drawings of characters to the voicing of the cast, as
well as some interesting storyboard comparisons.
Theres also a select few completed
deleted scenes, which is a rariety (normally, deleted scenes in
animated films never get fully finished and end up being displayed
through storyboards), so it's good to see an alternate ending the way
it was intended. Conclusion:
Movie 65% Extras: 60%
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