When I hear the name Cinderella, my brain goes into auto-mode and without delay plays the scene from Disney’s original animated film, where the mice are singing “cinderelly, cinderelly…do the cleaning…do the mopping.” It makes me smile each time. Although Disney’s new live-action Cinderella film is not a light and airy animated re-do, it is a story of a girl left in the world without either of her parents, only to be taken advantage of by a cruel stepmother and stepsisters. With that, she still manages to persevere through really tragic moments in her life with utmost positivity. I’d say that remains pretty inspiring! Not to say her upbeat attitude doesn’t come with a few breaking points, but she even continues to push through those and regain her focus. In addition to the tragedies, there is also plenty of humor to balance things out.
My friend and I were presented the opportunity to preview Disney’s most recent live-action twist on another classic fairy tale. Will they be able to follow the Frozen craze? It’s highly doubtful and I don’t think it will develop half as much hype. Read on for our full Cinderella movie review!
In general, my friend and I found Cinderella to have an easy narrative for people to follow, which doesn’t stray far from the original, and it was well put together. It kept our attention the whole time and even surprised the audience with a small-unexpected event in the plot. Essentially, I decided it was best to go in with low expectations, but was surprisingly satisfied at the outcome. Back stories and the development of certain relationships throughout the film helped to make the characters more relatable than the 1950’s animated version.
With the exception of what looked like giant white dental veneers on most of the characters, it does of course have a touch of magic throughout. For example, the film retained Cinderella’s special gift for communicating with animals, but all magical moments were not at all overdone….bippity boppity boo! Unfortunately, one area the magical Disney touch seemed to be lacking on was the ballroom dancing. Although it’s not a major factor in this movie, I have to say that it was pretty bad. It was far from smooth gliding across the floor (more like popcorn kernels popping randomly) and was hard to tell whether that was done on purpose or not. I just can’t find a good reason for that part of the story to be so sloppy and I am shocked Disney (a company known for its phenomenal, in-sync choreographies) slipped up horribly on it this time.
Aside from some of those strange occurrences in the film, all in all, it encompassed a great cast that worked really well together. That also includes a diverse group of supporting actors and extras. The dynamic between Cinderella (Lily James) and Prince Charming (Richard Madden) was a good one. Aside from his dreamy blue eyes, I was thrown off a bit that he appeared to be much older than the young, innocent girl she is supposed to be. Helena Bonham Carter’s name caught my eye and led me to believe there must be some strange twist on things (for which I was a little excited). So even though it was far from anything a la Tim Burton, it was nice to see her include some of her well-known quirkiness in the role of fairy godmother. Cate Blanchett also did a wonderful job in her role as the stepmother, portraying just the right amount of darkness for her character, and looking beautiful with the combination of red hair and emerald green gowns.
Now, is it a good movie for kids of all ages? Not so much. I would consider tweens and older at the very least. While the constant message of “have courage and be kind” is a great teaching tool for any age, the rest of the content may be a bit much for younger children. Some of the emotional subjects are possibly too dark or even too strong. The other message it portrays, “be yourself,” is in fact great for that tween and up age group as well, especially since many kids are navigating through that awkward stage of their lives. I wouldn’t consider running, but a nice walk to check out Disney’s new Cinderella in theatres today, would be in order!
Vanessa Morales is currently a full-time mom to a very busy toddler. She and her husband share a love of traveling and enjoy sharing those adventures and different cultures with their son. She also loves to bake and always looks forward to trying new recipes.Disclosure: We were provided a complimentary advance screening of Disney’s Cinderella in order to facilitate this review. All thoughts and opinions are our own.
Images courtesy of Walt Disney Studios
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