An alliance of evil-doers, led by Frieda, looks to take over Fairy Tale Land. But when Ella realizes her stepmother is out to ruin her storybook existence, she takes a dramatic turn and blossoms into the leader of the resistance effort.
Essentially a brash comedy taking one idea as far as it can go, Happily N'Ever After is spare on emotional development but generous with smart-aleck shtick.
– Tom Keogh,
Seattle Times,
5 Jan 2007
rotten:
A leaden, irritatingly obvious postmodern fairy tale.
– Tasha Robinson,
AV Club,
5 Jan 2007
rotten:
N'ever was an apostrophe so misplaced, n'ever was the prospect of good cheer so perversely defeated.
– Joe Morgenstern,
Wall Street Journal,
5 Jan 2007
rotten:
You expect a certain amount of sugar and snark in a modern children's film, but this tossed-off retelling reeks of folks just out to make a cheap buck.
– David Fear,
Time Out New York,
3 Feb 2007
rotten:
The computerised animation is cut-rate; the script keeps piling on clunker jokes that even toddlers will find lame; and Prinze proves he isn't any better an actor in two dimensions than he is in three.