An animated fairy tale meets modern, live-action comedy. The story follows the beautiful princess Giselle (Amy Adams) who is banished by an evil queen (Susan Sarandon) from her magical, musical animated land and finds herself in the gritty reality of the streets of modern-day Manhattan.

Shocked by this strange new environment that doesn't operate on a 'happily ever after' basis, Giselle is now adrift in a chaotic world badly in need of enchantment. But when Giselle begins to fall in love with a charmingly flawed divorce lawyer (Patrick Dempsey) who has come to her aid - even though she is already promised to a perfect fairy tale prince back home - she has to wonder: evidence in abundance in the smart modern-day fairy tale Enchanted.

Bookended by the kind of old-style animation the studio is rightly famed for, the main, live-action segment of the film finds Amy Adams? Giselle--an archetypal Disney princess in pretty much every sense--dropped slap-bang into the middle of modern-day New York. What follows is ingenious fun, as Giselle walks around very much as a fish out of the water, followed quickly by James Marsden's prince who attempts to come to the rescue.

Thing is, modern-day New York and old-style princesses don?t really mix, and Enchanted studiously mines the comedy of the scenario, thanks to a smart and witty script. What also lifts Enchanted though are the delightful tips of the hat to classics of Disney old. And we? re not just talking the show-stopping numbers: there are references to the likes of Beauty and the Beast, Snow White and Sleeping Beauty to be found here, and a star-making performance from Adams powering the whole film forward.

One of the very best family movies of 2007, Enchanted does occasionally stumble through the odd twee moment (and it could really use a villain with more screen time than Susan Sarandon's wicked stepmother gets), but that can't hide the fact that it's terrific fun, lavishly made and, at its best, quite brilliant. A modern-day family classic, and great to see Disney once again delivering the kind of entertainment it excels at. --Simon Brew