Review on the Side: Cinderella

Release Date: March 13th, 2015
Director: Kenneth Branagh
Writer: Chris Weitz
Bechdel Test: Passed all three tests

Cinderella is the live action adaptation of the classic Disney cartoon of the same name. The 1950's Cinderella was a powerful movie that helped establish Disney as a brand that can make quality films. In the last few years, Disney has produced a series of live action adaptations and re-imaginings including Alice in Wonderland, and Maleficent. Both movies were visually stunning with a less than stunning plot. With Cate Blanchett headlining this film as the evil step mother, it's easy to presume this film will be another re-imagining of sorts.

Instead, Cinderella is quite faithful to the original cartoon, and surprisingly the original Grimm fairy tale. It's the traditional story of a poor girl who is abused by her step-mother and step-sisters and goes to the ball to meet a prince with the help of a fairy. No psychedelic universe, or cartoon settings. It's refreshingly simple and enchanting.

Lily James as Cinderella encapsulates that blonde, fair maiden look that Disney loves so much. I always will have trouble with a lead who has no flaws, and Cinderella is meant to be nothing but kind and good, although she never comes across as tooth-ache sweet. Despite the role being an fashioned cliche, James draws you in with her sincerity.

Cate Blanchett does steal the show quite a bit as the evil step mother. It would have been very easy to make her character inherently evil through and through, but instead the step-mother becomes a sympathetic character. Blanchett radiates talent, and without her I think this movie would fall flat. Helena Bonham Carter also brings a lot of charm to her role as the Fairy Godmother. She frequently plays fantastical characters, but the Fairy Godmother is different from her normal fair. She gives life to the story when it starts to grow dull, and has a wonderful presence as the narrator.

The biggest issue I have with Cinderella is with director Kenneth Branagh. The film feel drawn out and flat. Similar to his Marvel movie Thor, Branagh takes a magical fantastic universe and does a disservice with flat comedy and slow steady pacing. His style is simply quite boring. The second half of the movie seems to lose all urgency and stakes. There's nothing wrong with this or any of his movies, they will simply will never surprise you.

It does need to be said that like many old fairy tales, the portrayal of women is steeped in old fashioned ideals with less than stellar stereotypes. There's no getting around that. There's an argument to be had about the way women are portrayed in these morality films, and how that affects gender roles but I don't have it in me to fight that battle. Yes, it's old fashioned, but the essential message of kindness over selfishness isn't going to ruin a nation of kids. There does seem to be a conscious effort to represent diversity with some of the minor characters, so at least there's that.

Cinderella is a nice movie. I might recommend it to kids who enjoyed Maleficent but as an adult my nostalgia lies in the cartoon, I'd rather hear the old fashioned "Bippity Boppity Boo" than sit through this version again. It's a totally fine movie with some rather nice moments, but there's nothing to take away from it besides some impressive costumes and a hefty payday for Disney.

IMDb - Cinderella (7.2)