Godmothered (2020)
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Godmothered Movie Review
Godmothered is a 2020 fantasy comedy film directed by Sharon Maguire and starring Jillian Bell and Isla Fisher. The movie is familiar, but so much fun.
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“Now being a Tooth Fairy didn’t sound so bad to me;
You only work nights, you’ve always got a little change in your pocket“
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When Eleanor, a fairy godmother-in-training, learns that the world may not need fairy godmothers anymore, she decides to prove everyone wrong and help a young girl whose plea for help went unnoticed. Let’s first get this out of the way, the flick is obviously influenced by ‘Enchanted’. Thus, most of it wasn’t all that original and the feminist twist in the end was expected, preachy and certainly similar to ‘Frozen’ and other animated feminist movies. Yes, it’s the first live-action Disney movie to have that sentiment, but I’ve seen it in animation so many times by now that it’s become rather boring to repeat it.
But other than that and some weaker plot points here and there, I mostly enjoyed this film. The opening is suitably magical and charming and the entire part in Boston was very well done. Following Eleanor as she tries to help this grown woman and her family was both endearing and quite funny as the film’s humor is actually very good. It’s one of those movies that makes fun of Disney’s past conventions while also honoring them through some great references and a strong magical touch in some truly wonderful sequences.
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I love Jillian Bell. She is terrific in everything that she is in. Seeing her get such a prominent Disney role without looking like your regular impossibly good-looking Disney character was an impressive, unique choice that paid off. She’s awesome here as she’s very endearing, charming and personable. Her smile can light up the proceedings here.
It’s hilarious that Disney actually went out and got themselves Isla Fisher for the role of Mackenzie Walsh when in reality she is so much like Amy Adams physically and Adams was in ‘Enchanted’. Fisher deserved this role as she’s such an underappreciated actress. Here, she’s very likable and her arc is well written and touching.
The children of hers were obviously far from cute, which was an intentional feminist choice at a more diverse casting, but the characters just did not work for me, which brings me to my next point – the supporting players are infinitely inferior to the main two women. Hugh Prince is solid and all the people at her job are memorable, but the fantastical characters needed more development and the animals as well. That raccoon was hilarious, but he was mostly just there for his one-note joke where he continually chewed on everything. It was funny, but repetitive.
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Godmothered is solidly directed, fine in pacing and very well acted throughout. The VFX work is actually quite strong for a Disney+ original and I found the magical elements not sparse as some critics pinpointed. We got enough of them with the highlight being the magical carriage made out of a watermelon instead of a pumpkin. The soundtrack is a whole lot of fun too. It’s a pretty solid flick through and through, and it’s very cozy and perfect for the holidays.
