I LOVE the book, and was a little trepidatious about the movie. We went as a family on opening day, and gave it mixed reviews. 10yo DD and I really liked it, even though it is nothing like the book. (We decided to treat them as two totally different entities!) 12yo DS hated it. (Believe it or not, he loved the book; the reason he hated the movie was that it didn't follow the book well enough.) 4yo DD liked it fine, although she tried to hide her eyes during an especially tense scene involving a dagger. DH fell asleep.
Scroll down for a more complete review that I posted on another board. Don't read it if you don't want spoilers....
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The basic elements of the book were there: Ella was "blessed" by the fairy Lucinda with the gift of obedience, and had to obey EVERY command, even at the risk of her own life. Her wicked stepsister discovered this, and used it to her own advantage. Ella fell in love with the prince, and had to fight her mandatory obedience so that he wouldn't be killed. That framework was in place, but what the framework was filled with didn't bear much resemblance to the book.
The party of Mandy, the fairy godmother, was played by .... Minnie Driver?!? Not how I pictured Mandy at all. There were lots of additional characters, including an elf who wanted to be a lawyer and Prince Char's evil uncle, who wants Char dead so that he (the uncle) can be king.
The music is mostly rock. There is a sequence at the giant's wedding where the giants dress in slightly revealing clothing and dance slightly provocative dances.
The giants, elves, and ogres all team together to help Char and Ella (and themselves.)
While it was sort of medieval, there were a lot of modern twists. Like, Char was there for the opening of the new mall in Frell, the "Frell Galleria." Ella and the sisters went to the "Community College of Frell." There was an escalator (run by men turning a pulley) in the mall. Ella was forced to shoplift by the stepsisters. The stepsisters were in the Char Fan Club, and had Char posters on the wall. That kind of thing.
The scenery and sets were GORGEOUS. I loved how the movie "looked." (DD says it was taped in Ireland.)
Considering how different it was from the book, though, I have to say that I REALLY liked it. If I had never read the book, I would have loved the movie. There really is nothing objectionable in it, except for the giants with bared midriffs and a couple of uses of the word "but*t" (as in, Char had a cute one, according to one of his fans.) If you don't like rock music or magic, you won't like it.