Cinderella Reviews

The trailer was a mixed bag, one where the production values, music script and acting really impressed but it was also one that gave away too much and gave the impression that it was going to be too faithful to the 1950 animated film. This viewer found this film to be absolutely wonderful and easily the best of the live-action Disney classic make-overs.

It also compares extremely favourably with the animated film, with every ounce of its charm, heart and magic, which was my first Disney film and one of my most watched as a child. Still very fond of it now but is not a personal favourite anymore. The two versions have things that are done better than in the other, with the animated film having a quite creepy introduction(other than at the start) for Lady Tremaine, Cinderella's reaction to being locked in the attic being much more believable, the stepsisters being more loathsome and the hilarious interaction between the duke and the king and this film having less filler(a common criticism of the animated film), more back story for the characters and the characters being more expanded, especially the Prince who has much more to do and more of a personality and the beginning with Ella's parents. Both have huge amounts of charm, heart and magic, the characterisation of Lady Tremaine is about equal and the transformation sequence, which has always been my favourite part of the story, are brilliantly done in both versions, that in the animated version is one of Disney's most iconic scenes and here it is just magical.

Under review here is the 2015 live-action film. It's no surprise what's going to happen and how it's going to end if you're familiar with the original fairy tale and Stellan Skarsgard while funny and sinister felt a little underused. Other than that, it is a wonderful film with very little to complain about, it's also perhaps more accessible for most. The most obvious merit is the production values, the whole film looks absolutely exquisite, with beautiful photography, colourful scenery that are as delicious as a box of chocolates and while it's a bit early in the year to say it would be a hard act to follow for a film to have even better costume designs than the ones in Cinderella. Ella's blue ball gown is jaw dropping in how gorgeous it is. While I may slightly prefer the music in the animated film, which contains some of Disney's best, most memorable and best-known tunes, Patrick Doyle's music score matches the film's whimsical tone perfectly with a sparkling whimsy of its own without going overboard with the sugar and sweetness.

Cinderella(2015) has a witty script, with Lady Tremaine having the best lines and the story is beautifully told, faithful in detail and spirit to the story and the animated film but with some refreshing new touches of its own like the pre-ball encounter, what's done with the glass slipper and some of the climax that prevent it from being too faithful or like a carbon copy. The back-stories added a great deal with none of it feeling like filler, letting us to get to know the characters and bringing a psychological element in places. The highlight for me was the transformation scene, which was visually enchanting and enthrallingly done. The ball scene was great as well, with the opulent gowns and rich colours. Kenneth Branagh gives some of his best directing in some time, directing with classy style while bringing deep understanding and depth to the story and the film is very well acted, with the standouts being Lily James, with the charm and poignant emotion she conveys the role of Ella suits her like a glove, and an exceptional Cate Blanchett. Richard Madden is a dashing Prince, a role that you get to know much more than in the story and the fairy tale where he gets little to do, Anastasia and Drizella while perhaps a little too attractive look like they're having a lot of fun, Helena Bonham Carter has a ball as the Fairy Godmother and Derek Jacobi is very touching as the King. Oh and the animals are adorable, especially liked the goose.

All in all, a wonderful film that should please anybody who loves the fairy tale and the animated film. 9/10 Bethany Cox

To borrow a quote from Lady Tremaine, “this thing is so old-fashioned, it’s practically falling to pieces.” I’m of two minds about this thing. On one hand, Cinderella is almost refreshing in its single-minded determination to play things straight and without winking at the audience. On the other, they relatively few new additions added to the narrative hinder the entire thing by placing safely in a cocoon. There’s no risks, but there’s also no rewards.

 

Ironic considering that Alan Horn, chairman of the Walt Disney Studios, instructed Kenneth Branagh to take all the time and resources he wanted to make this one for the ages. Well, all that ended up on the screen was a practical beat-for-beat remake of Disney’s 1950 animated original. It’s workman-like without a trace of personal artistry or vision. It’s merely the aesthetic of the Disney Silver Era played out with flesh-and-blood actors.

 

This makes for gorgeous costumes and highly-detailed sets, but it also means there’s not a lot of interest in the narrative going on. The theme of the film boils down to “have courage and be kind,” and we’re never allowed to forget this phrase for longer than ten minutes throughout the running time. If it’s to be something of a personal mantra for Cinderella, a driving force and coping mechanism to get her through the abuse heaped on her by her stepfamily, then the film largely fails to explore that darkness. After all, real human emotion would get in the way of the watercolor aesthetics of the film.

 

And that is the major problem of this Cinderella. It is more concerned with establishing a series of gorgeous looks and images than it is with exploring the psychological terrain of its characters or the real emotions going on underneath. Cinderella seems remarkably well-adjusted all things considered, and prone to several moments of escape. It makes her eventual rebellion against her stepmother fairly toothless.

 

Cinderella could easily be renamed Mary Sue in this as she is bereft of flaws and interior life. None of this is to take away from Lily James’ performance. James is lively, lovely, and simply buoyant throughout, it’s just that the script doesn’t give her a lot of wiggle room to really explore the character. But think of Anna Kendrick’s neurotic variation of the character in Into the Woods. You saw and felt what the years of abuse had done to her, you understood why she dreamed and wished as hard as she did. James’ Cinderella takes off on horseback and meets the prince (Richard Madden, tasked with being handsome and nothing more) in the woods, and you wonder why she ever returned to this hellhole.

 

The only characters that make any kind of impression are her wicked stepfamily. The two stepsisters, played with manic comic energy by Sophie McShera and Holliday Grainger, are entertaining to watch as the actresses fearlessly dive into playing grotesque, bratty creatures. While Cate Blanchett, as she often does, walks away with the best-in-show award for finding ways to expose layers of deferred ambition, jealousy, and heartbreak. She makes you understand how someone could be driven into being so cruel, and she plays a lot of it for dark comedy. Blanchett’s clearly playing the role as if the script hewed closer to the original fairy tale, and you spend a lot of time wondering if she’s going to cut off the toes and heels of her daughters to see her ambitions come to fruition. No dice, as the film is all about lip service to deeper issues and striking glamorous poses.

 

Even worse is the way that Cinderella squanders its tony cast. Derek Jacobi is wasted as the king, and Nonso Anozie merely exists as an exposition dump and plot advancement. The worst offender is powering through Helena Bonham Carter’s daffy reading of the fairy godmother. That scene should be the centerpiece of the film, but Branagh sacks Carter with ridiculous fake teeth, bad old age makeup before her ethereal reveal, and hits the fast-forward button on the action. Carter’s clearly game for it, but Branagh just wants to power through the beats as fast as he can.

 

Originally, Mark Romanek was attached to this film, and he was let go for wanting to take the story in a darker direction. Man, what might have been with a director as audacious as him. Don’t believe me? Check out his myriad of impressive music videos for proof. What we get is enjoyably bland, too safe for its own good, and entirely afraid of dealing with the social critique at the heart of the story or the complicated human emotions swirling underneath. This Cinderella is all glossy surface textures, and as dreamy and enticing as they are, pretty pictures aren’t all that a film can be.

Disney has done it again. Everybody knows Cinderella story and what this film gave was as it is with the help of modern CGI works. When I heard about the Disney's live-shot version is getting ready, I had a serious doubt, but not anymore. Nowadays, the filmmakers know how to pull it off a big budget movie with ease. Especially from Hollywood, if one market fails, it will raise in another as the recent example was 'Age of Extinction'. I am glad this movie met a great success despite it was not a surprise material as a story, but was as the quality of product.

The movie runs nearly for 100 minutes, that does not feel too long as the narration had a wonderful pace. Everything was awesomely handled by the director of 'Thor'. It's a new era of the live-shot movies, which borrows the stories from the fairytales, folklore and classical animations. Recent 'Maleficent' was one of the great examples and this film as well enters the book of triumph.

Lily James was very good, I haven't seen her much, because she's kind of a new actress in the spotlight. She's cute and adorable, I love to see her in many movies in the future. While Cate Blanchett, I never had any disbelief in her and she delivered it perfectly. An ideal movie for a family to watch at the weekend. I think children would love it, so at least watch it for them, with them.

7/10

To be honest, I wasn't really dying to see this movie but my little daughter wanted to watch it. Apparently, the guys at Disney seem to have found a new successful concept which is to release some live action versions of their most famous fairy tales. This time, they didn’t even try to add a new twist like they did with 'Alice in Wonderland' and with 'Sleeping Beauty' and they pretty much gave the most straightforward adaptation you could think of. However, since they still wanted to reach a respectable running time, they had to stretch everything a little bit longer than actually necessary but those additions didn’t really improve the whole thing, I'm afraid. At some point, Mark Romanek was actually supposed to direct the damned thing but, as usual, he dropped off because of the usual creative differences but I can’t help wondering what he would have done with the material. Eventually, it remains watchable and fairly entertaining thanks to some decent visuals and a Cate Blanchett perfectly cast as Lady Tremaine. To conclude, I guess I wasn't really the targetted audience but, if you love traditional fairy tales, you'll probably enjoy this movie very much and you should definitely check it out.

Initial Thought: I have to admit when I saw this I got pissed off. I thought the classic animated film was great. I guess it should be expected though these days. It's just we basically got another Cinderella just recently with Into the Woods. Oh well I was curious to see how everything went.

Characters/Acting: The cast here is quite good with the likes of Cate Blanchett, Richard Madden, Helena Bonham Carter, and Stella Skarsgard. So we do get acknowledgement about her name. It was weird seeing Robb Stark in such a joyous mood. The acting is quite good given the cast involved. All the characters were well written. They just didn't do much different with them.

Story: It's the same story as always. Cinderella is raised by her cruel stepmother and bullied by her stepsister after her father passes away. The only difference is she is called Ella for some reason. It seems to go a very little more in depth with Cinderella's background. The costumes are great and the cinematography is quite beautiful. We get references to some of our favorite songs from the animated feature. I would have liked this more with musical numbers. One thing I have always wondered is how the slippers don't disappear when the spell wears off. I mean is it a different spell entirely or they just wanted to make it easy for the story? I thought the transformation scenes were quite humorous. Okay how the hell did Lady Tremaine find the freaking glass slipper?! There is one moment of singing, but I would hardly consider it like a musical moment the way it is presented. The only time we actually get the actors singing is during the credits where Lily James sings "A Dream Is a Wish Your Heart Makes" and Helena Bonham Carter sings "Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo". The ending kind of looked like Frozen in the way the palace looks during winter.

Directing/Writing: Kenneth Branagh is quite well known as both director and an actor. He has directed such films like Jack Ryan and Thor. Another actor and director by the name of Chris Weitz works behind the scenes as the screenwriter. His most notable works as director/writer are The Golden Compass and About a Boy. With these two behind the project I'm sure it will be good.

Final Thought: I thought it was cute albeit quite average. The magic just wasn't there for me without the music. It had a few pretty funny moments. I just wasn't all that impressed with it. They didn't do anything new with the story except maybe for Cinderella's history. That just wasn't enough for me though. It might be a good one for the family. It just wasn't my cup of tea. I would watch the original again, but not this one.

"Just because it's what's done doesn't mean it's what should be done!"

Cinderella represents the next step in Disney's master plan to create live-action motion pictures from their vast catalogue of animated classics, following in the shadow of Alice in Wonderland and last year's Maleficent. Directed by Kenneth Branagh (Thor, Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit), this Cinderella is easily the strongest upgrade so far, a dazzling fairytale with charm, heart, and intimacy to supplement the mandatory spectacle. Giving the reigns to Branagh certainly seems like a head-scratcher at first glance, yet he's the perfect man for the job, resulting in one of the most convincing fantasy films in years. Often low-key, the movie is not smeared with a disgusting amount of digital effects, and it manages to be child-friendly without directly pandering to the younger demographic. In fact, without the Disney branding or the aggressive marketing campaign, 2015's Cinderella could almost be an arthouse release. Sure, it has anthropomorphised mice and other fantastical touches, but Branagh doesn't overdo it, nor does he slather the movie in excess - effective drama and genuine feeling are the order of the day here.

The narrative remains virtually untouched, with scribe Chris Weitz creating a fairly traditional updating of Disney's animated film from 1950. Ella (Lily James) becomes an orphan following the death of her beloved parents (Hayley Atwell, Ben Chaplin), left in the care of her not-too-kindly stepmother Lady Tremaine (Cate Blanchett). Under Tremaine's regime, Ella is forced into hard labour, becoming a lowly maid for her stepmother and two grotesque step-sisters, Anastasia (Holiday Grainger) and Drizella (Sophie McShera). During a chance meeting with handsome royal prince Kit (Richard Madden), they form an instant connection, with the pair longing to see one another again. When the king (Derek Jacobi) encourages Kit to marry, a ball is arranged, with every woman in the kingdom invited to attend in order for the prince to choose a future queen. With Tremaine forbidding Ella from attending the ball and undermining her confidence, Ella's Fairy Godmother (Helena Bonham Carter) is called upon to help the girl reunite with the charming young man she wishes to marry.

Essentially, Branagh and Weitz have merely set out to tell a familiar story in a competent manner, and by all accounts, the end result is a resounding success. Anyone who’s intimately acquainted with the source material will not find many surprises here, but this is about the best live-action retelling of the fairytale that anyone could realistically expect. The most impressive aspect of the screenplay is that it gives unexpected depth to the characters; Kit and Ella do not fall in love out of Disney formula, but rather out of mutual attraction that develops organically. Moreover, Ella is not even aware that Kit is a prince during their first meeting; her heart aches for him not due to his royalty, but due to his personality. The romance is surprisingly poignant under Branagh's careful eye, and that climactic glass slipper moment is a joy to witness. Additionally, Weitz's script expounds upon a few aspects of the Cinderella story that we do not always see - including how Ella gets her Cinderella nickname - and there is an unexpected twist of conspiracy at the heart of the search for the prince's bride-to-be. Thus, while there are small alterations to the source, Branagh's treatment remains respectful and traditional.

Rather than the punishing grimness of Snow White and the Huntsman or the glossy, plastic look of Maleficent, Cinderella is more like a Shakespearean drama, reminiscent of Branagh's earlier features. As a matter of fact, the film is less successful when the trademark Disney touches pop-up, most notably in a scene featuring the Fairy Godmother that's much too broad. For the most part, however, Cinderella works. Beautifully lensed with 35mm film, the movie is endowed with a convincing look that serves the production well. Maleficent's digital look was a massive problem, as it was impossible to buy the fantastical world as real. But with a fine grain structure and a reliance on sets and costumes, Cinderella's fantasy world looks and feels real. It's rare to label any $95 million motion picture as modest, but this truly applies to Branagh's film; the budget certainly isn't as high as Maleficent ($180 million), Alice in Wonderland ($200 million) or Oz the Great and Powerful ($215 million). There is not a great deal of CGI here which is a massive advantage, as the small digital touches subtly enhance the visuals without calling attention to themselves.

Although there has been a lot of press about Lily James' impossibly thin figure, her grounded depiction of Cinderella is a huge asset to the film. There's superb humanity to her performance, as she comes across as a strong female trying to make the most of a bad situation while trying as hard as she can to retain her personal integrity and show kindness. Most of all, James possesses the beauty, grace and radiance to be a believable Cinderella. Alongside her, Madden is a terrific love interest, with a down-to-earth quality that makes him instantly sympathetic. He has no interest in the wealth or prestige of royalty, which is why he tries to hide his status from Cinderella when they first meet. Meanwhile, Blanchett's turn as the wicked stepmother is absolutely spot-on. At face value, her villainy is pure black-and-white, but there is some actual depth to the character, with justification for her rotten behaviour. Jacobi also deserves a special mention; he has little screen-time as the king and it feels like a throwaway role, but it's hard to imagine the movie being so spectacular without him.

As a little bonus for those venturing to cinemas, the movie is preceded by Frozen Fever, a short movie featuring the characters from Disney's 2013 hit Frozen. It's a sweet, charming short sure to please fans of the animated gem, featuring a new song that kids may be humming for days. It's fortunate that the short was attached to a movie as utterly satisfying as Cinderella, which should please the kids and not leave adults constantly staring at their watches. Other recent fairytale adaptations have been revisionist, but Cinderella is staunchly not revisionist, which is quite refreshing. It may seem paint-by-numbers, but Branagh infuses the story with emotion, which makes for rewarding viewing. With its gorgeous production design and ornate costuming, Cinderella is a joy, and its brisk ninety-minute runtime and competent pacing ensure that there's no narrative flab here. Indeed, the time simply flies by.

8.3/10