The director Ross Venokur, with Once upon a time there was Prince Charming, has decided to overturn the modus operandi of classic children's fairy tales by putting one of the most recurring characters in the world of fantasy in the spotlight, who nevertheless almost never receives due space, always ending up relegated to the role of the "rescuer" of the princess on duty . The ending of the classic fairy tales is always the same: "The prince saved the princess and they all lived happily ever after", this time though Venokur he shuffled the cards on the table starting from a simple reasoning: if the prince charming marries Snow White, Cinderella and also Sleeping Beauty (Aurora), then there is something wrong here.
In the world of Once upon a time
The story begins by presenting the rescues of the famous Prince (Philip) Azzurro who finds himself in the situation of having to choose which of the three princesses will be his wife: Snow White, Cinderella or Aurora. However, the prince cannot make this difficult choice since he cannot know true love due to a spell that has been weighing on him since he was an infant and that condemns him to eternal charm. The victim, however, finds himself in the situation of having to choose a bride by her twenty-first birthday otherwise the spell would extend to the whole kingdom, erasing love forever from people's hearts. Filippo so he leaves for the great test in search of love and, during his journey, he meets Lenore, a thief who presents herself to him as Lenny, and that will help him in his journey in search of the elusive True true love.
Rotten apples and magic powders
As we said, Once upon a time there was Prince Charming goes to re-propose the classic they all lived happily ever after, but it does so in a different way than usual by putting in the foreground a character who until now has always been the background and proposing a story that, although it may seem obvious, manages to be original and to offer a almost parodial point of view of the fairy tales we are used to. In fact, this comic streak is immediately underlined in the film: just think that the three princesses of the classic stories do not realize, until it is revealed, that the Blue Principles they are supposed to marry are actually the same person. In addition, there are also other different situations, which make their way throughout the film, which have the express purpose of parodying some of the clichés most treated in most fairy tales. Not being too touchy about the attention to detail of the 3D models used - we are certainly not talking about a Disney work, a house that has now accustomed us to perfect and super detailed models thanks to budget and team - we can say that the animations and in general the rendering graphics of the film are very convincing and beautiful to look at, satisfying the eye during the 90 minutes effective duration of the film.
The film is not only aimed at an audience of children, but manages to raise issues that even parents in the room will be able to easily understand. In fact, the work also deals with the question of female independence (a delicate subject, especially in this period) well embodied by the character of Lenore. Unfortunately, like any self-respecting work, this film also has a flaw: in this case it is the main villain, Nemesis Maldamore, which never represents a real threat throughout the film, and is included in the story only in the opening and ending bars. Nemesis, for almost the entire duration of the film, he merely stands aside and plays a few little tricks on the prince and Lenore, however, resulting in a capricious child who only wants to occupy time rather than a "Nemesis".
Removing this stain, the film is enjoyable and pleasant to see, with a really well conducted dubbing and a soundtrack suitable for every situation that manages to articulate every emotion that the film wants to arouse. The nature musical of this work, on the other hand, makes the success of the soundtrack a fundamental thing: goal achieved.
A fairytale ending
Last but not least we can say that Once upon a time there was Prince Charming it is enjoyable from the first minute to the last, with funny jokes and a good load of sarcasm on the classic fairy tales we all know. Also with a colonna sonora excellent, a dubbing very convincing and a graphic rendering all in all not bad, the film also manages to be interesting and pleasant both to watch and to listen to. Despite the already highlighted narrative negligence, the film recovers points with all the other characters, who enjoy a good characterization and often stage funny situations for young and old, where the former will be able to interpret some of the events scattered in the film with the necessary maturity.
We give due credit a Ross Venokur, who succeeded, with Once upon a time there was Prince Charming, to bring to the big screen a product that makes the classic its trump card, playing in a decidedly original way; something that alone is certainly worth that hour and a half of time to devote to watching the film, perhaps in the company of children or grandchildren.
