Critic's Grade: B-

With a movie like "Ella Enchanted," I'm torn between my adoration for the many achievements the film does make, and those to which it merely aspires. Think of it as a live-action version of "Shrek" in concept, as you watch many medieval mall patrons ride down a makeshift escalator, or throngs of young female fans cheering on a popular prince in the vein of any modern boy-band idol. What Gail Carson Levine's novel could only put into words, director Tommy O'Haver has envisioned as a fairy tale for the modern age, throwing together the usual mysticism of a tall tale with our more advanced pop culture tomfoolery. And while I'm inclined to give the movie my approval based solely on this aspect of its design, there are things about it that simply just don't get my vote.

First of all, there's the story, which is full of typical plot twists and turns. That's not to say that "Shrek" or any other of this breed isn't predictable right through to the happy ending, but at least other entries have their methods of providing something that keeps our attention. Here, we have to settle for the life of Ella of Frell (Anne Hathaway), who as an infant was cursed with the gift of obediance. As a young girl, she now listens to everything anyone tells her, which includes and is not limited to freezing in mid-air "Matrix"-style when a palace guard yells "Freeze!" And once her evil stepsister Hattie (Lucy Punch) gets wind of this, poor Ella becomes nothing but clay.

The plot hook comes when Ella decides to find her godmother, Lucinda (Vivica A. Fox), the woman responsible for the curse. Hoping to have it revoked, she travels across the land with a magical book for direction, running into all sorts of interesting people including ogres, elves, and Prince Charmont (Hugh Dancy), whose uncle Edgar (Cary Elwes) has passed a number of laws unfairly segregating the kingdom. As this is a kid's movie, you knew there was going to be some kind of moral message tacked on here, and "Ella Enchanted" thankfully does not overdo it.

But maybe that's the whole problem with the story here: it feels too reserved. Take "Shrek," for instance, which was unafraid of turning the fairy tale world over on its side and lampooning everything from the Gingerbread Man to Snow White ("Although she sleeps with seven men, she's not easy!" said the Magic Mirror). There's nothing nearly as racy as that to be found here, nor does the film ever really come close to a midpoint between the two (the PG rating surprises me). The film has the feeling that it wants to break out and start being what it is capable of- a smart satire- but alas, the only true laughs come from production design quirks and visual creativity rather than anything having to do with the characters or their situations. Still, there are other attributes, not the least of which is Hathaway's charismatic performance, which when combined with the better elements of "Ella Enchanted," makes this a movie that almost gets it right.

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