Released in 2019

Charming

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‘Charming’ is engaged to three girls…. poor chap it seems, is cursed to get every girl swooning with just one glance, and then he asks them to marry him. To make matters worse, the poor schmuck can’t tell who really loves him back, which has led to  – Yup, you guessed it, he’s engaged to, ‘Snow White, Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty.‘

 

As his nuptials approach, his exasperated, desperate Father, the King, vows that unless Charming finds his true love by his 21st birthday, he will disinherit him, but far worse the curse will also become permanent then too.

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So starts a mission by Charming to break the bad spell cast on him at birth, seek a girl he genuinely loves, and exchange true love’s kiss before his 21st. Gosh, golly will he do it? Just like any other curse, it can of course only be broken by a series of impossible challenges.

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With lovely, bright animation which flows well in a great edit, Charming

is clearly a well thought out summer film for those of us who are hopeless romantics with a sense of humour, or female and between the ages of 6 and 10. The direction by Ross Venokur is good, the humour is light and untaxing, and therefore this is a film that will find its audience during the summer holidays.

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For the adults accompanying, this ain’t no ‘Shrek’. This is a shame, as in terms of concept, the scope was there. With all the knowledge the public have of all the well-loved tales that inspired Charming, this could have been one of those wonderful animations that all ages would’ve flocked too. Sadly, this is down to a poorly developed script, that feels rushed, which is sometimes a result of what happens when production, funds and schedules start to collide or go awry and, there’s just not enough time to properly layer the script. It’s particularly easy to spot with animation, because the characters, already ‘not real’ start to feel stereo-typical and clunky.

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However, the soundtrack is good, as are the songs which add touches of timely emotion when things flag a little. For a bit of light weight afternoon fun with ice-cream and fizzy pop, Charming works.

 

So, well, who does Charming really love? Well as it turns out, it’s not Snow White, Cinderella or Sleeping Beauty….

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A sweet twist on a few well-loved fairy tales for a modern age.

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