When I first saw the teaser trailer for Kenneth Branagh (Thor)’s live action version of Cinderella, I admit that I was mildly intrigued.  Although, rather shallowly, that was mostly because of Richard Madden.  I was low on cash this week so I was totally prepared to skip it.   But my mother wanted to see it and as I’ve said before, a free movie is a free movie, right?

Oh, by the way, I still haven’t seen the animated version of Cinderella, and I think that that’s somewhat important to note.

Here’s the round up:

Please note that there may be spoilers.  Read at your own risk.

THE STORY:

Seriously?  I haven’t seen the cartoon version but even I’m familiar with the story.

Blah blah blah, when Cinderella (Lily James – Wrath of the Titans)’s father (Ben Chaplin – Murder by Numbers) dies she is left at the mercy of her evil Stepmother (Cate Blanchett – The Curious Case of Benjamin Button) who forces her to do all of the housework and basically be the servant while her two beautiful but stupid stepsisters Drisella (Sophie McShera – Downton Abbey) and Anastasia (Holliday Grainger – Jane Eyre) squabble about petty things.

Meanwhile the King (Derek Jacobi – Gladiator) is looking for a suitable bride for his heir, the Prince (Richard Madden – Game of Thrones), and decides to throw a ball to which all the maidens in the kingdom are invited.  Cinderella is forbidden to go but with a little help from her Fairy Godmother (Helena Bonham Carter – Pulp Fiction), she manages to not only attend the ball, but also to catch the Prince’s eye.  This is devastating news not only to the stepmother and the stepsisters but also to the Grand Duke (Stellan Skarsgard – Thor: The Dark World), who has already promised the hand of the Prince to the neighboring kingdom’s princess.   Blah blah blah, the clock strikes twelve and the magic wears off blah blah blah and she leaves one glass slipper behind blah blah.  You know the rest.

THE GOOD:

1. The theatrical poster they released last year.  I know that it’s not technically part of the movie itself, but hot damn if that’s not genius marketing.

   

2. It’s obvious that they unloaded a generous wad of cash for the sets and the costumes.  This being Disney, there was no skimping out on the props.  I mean, all of the outfits were gorgeous!
3. Cate Blanchett.  I like that she’s in that phase of her career where she agrees to roles like this, because even though the character is vastly underwritten and 1950’s two-dimensional, she was able to ground the stepmother enough to make her a smidge relatable.  And it’s obvious that she was having fun playing the villain and rocking that red lipstick.

   

4. The musical scores were just the right amount of cheesy.  Patrick Doyle is a genius.
5. Richard Madden’s blue eyes which stood out in every freaking outfit that he wore.  A great big kudos to the costume department for hand picking each and every fabric to match those eyes.  Although I do kind of miss the beard though.

   

THE BAD:

1. Skellan Skarsgard’s ridiculous hair piece.  Just no.

   

2. Lily James’ eyebrows.  I understand that bold eyebrows are now a trend but hers were a bit distracting.  I thought I was the only one who noticed but a friend of mine who saw it yesterday commented on it as well.

   

3. Lily James’ breathy way of speaking.  I don’t know if they were trying to emulate the animated version but all I kept on thinking was ‘is her corset too tight?’
4. Helena Bonham Carter’s false teeth.  Pretty much like Skellan Skarsgard’s hair.

   

THE UGLY:

1. They didn’t really deviate much from the animated version, did they?  I mean, I get that that’s the whole point but considering that the material over fifty years old, I was sort of expecting a little bit of modernisation or something.  Sacrilegious, I know, but given how they presented that brilliant theatrical poster, my expectations were sort of high.
2. That plot point where the Duke promised the Prince to another princess.  I’m overthinking it, I know, but won’t they get into war with that other kingdom for rescinding on their word?  And given that the King just passed, I can imagine a whole shit load of political disturbance.  Yes. This is what Game of Thrones does to a person.

All in all Cinderella was an entertaining movie.  It did everything that it promised to do, which, I guess was to re-tell the story using live actors.  Performances were okay for the most part, although the material did not require any ‘heavy lifting’ from the actors.  The sets were beautiful though and it’s obvious that the film makers really did want to relay the magic to the audience, and the genius musical scores helped a lot with that.  I imagine kids would enjoy this movie but I’m just too old for it.

THE VERDICT: 7/10.

*All photos are lifted from the film’s IMDB page.