Anne Hathaway has done it again: she has become a princess. Only this time she had an elf, an ogre, a giant and a talking book to help her along, not to mention her very own personal fairy godmother. In Ella Enchanted, Anne Hathaway is Ella of Frell, the daughter of a merchant and stepdaughter of a woman not used to living in meager accommodations with two ungrateful stepsisters who take advantage of her. Sounds just like Cinderella. The difference you ask? Well, if you have seen Drew Barrymore's Ever After, not much. Though, there is magic, and all of those fairy tale creatures, but that's what makes it that much better. Anne graces us with a song during the movie and while she is trekking across the countryside with Prince Charmont (Hugh Dancy, Black Hawk Down), Slannen the elf (Aiden McArdle) and a book with the talking face of a man named Heston (Steve Coogan, 24-Hour Party People) her little "curse" comes in handy more than one would think. She is able to kick some major butt just by being told what moves to do, and her singing debut is a result from her gift. Ella's real mother made her promise to never tell anyone about her curse for fear it would be used against her. Ella's own father never even knew about the curse.

Oh yes, I forgot to tell you about the curse-I mean, "gift." When Ella was a baby, her Fairy Godmother, Lucinda (Vivica A. Fox, Kill Bill Vol. 1), not the house Fairy, Mandy (Minnie Driver, Beautiful) gave her the "Gift of Obedience" as her present to the family. Unfortunately, while her intentions were good, as they usually are, the gift backfired, making Ella completely unable to disobey any order whether she is told to clean her room, hold her tongue, or steal shoes from the marketplace. There is even a really sad moment when her evil stepmother, Dame Olga (Joanna Lumley, Eurotrip), orders her to tell her best friend Areida (Parminder Nagra, ER) that she can no longer be friends with her and doesn't want to see her ever again.

After that, Ella decided to go out into the world to find Godmother Lucinda and make her take back the gift. This is, of course, thrown off when she comes upon some mean humans teasing and torturing the poor elf, Slannen, then they almost get eaten by ogres and are rescued by Prince Char. From that moment on, they travel with Char to the main city to find the records that would say where Lucinda is. They get side tracked in Giantville, thinking Lucinda is there, and Ella ends up doing a great rendition of the Queen song "Somebody To Love." And yes, it really is Hathaway singing.

Of course, like every great fairy tale, there is a great villain and this villain happens to be a former cinematic hero. Cary Elwes (The Princess Bride) plays the evil Prince Regent Edgar who wants to get rid of Char, Ella and all the creatures that are not human. He finds out about Ella's curse and uses it against her and Char in very interesting ways.

Ella Enchanted is very cute, a dreamy fairy tale and a complete chick flick. Most girls will leave the theater wishing they could meet a prince and if you bring your guy, he will probably be drooling over Hathaway. So of course, this would constitute an obvious chick flick. I do recommend getting the girls together and having a night out, because hey, we all fantasize at one point about being the girl who rescues the prince and not the other way around. This movie promotes individuality and is all about finding yourself in a world that wants you to do everything but what you want and Ella certainly does find herself, of course, in very funny, silly, and completely memorable ways.