Movie Review: Cinderella
Author: Taelinn Dolivras
Before I get into the review of the new Cinderella movie, I'd like to tell you a little fairy tale. It's the story of a girl who enters contests of every kind and never wins anything.
The girl becomes so jaded at one point that she starts to forget about the contests she has entered because from the beginning she is sure she will not win. However, for some reason, she keeps entering contests, perhaps because she still has hope that she might win, but more likely because she is so used to doing so that it would be strange to stop. And then one day, she receives an envelope in the mail:
Finally, a win! She is so thrilled that she immediately starts planning her trip to the movie theater, and when the big day finally comes she is overjoyed. The movie is lovely, her invited guests even more so, and everyone has a fantastic time.
And they all lived happily ever after. Or so the fairy tale ending says.
Yes, I actually won movie tickets in a contest, and I was able to invite a girlfriend and her 6 and 8 year old daughters to come see it with me. Perhaps a bit of a silly story, but this friend and her daughters were in desperate need of an escape from reality - so did I, for that matter - and winning this contest made it possible. Why am I telling you this? Just so that you understand if my review is a little bit more forgiving than it might have been had the circumstances been different.
But enough talk about me. Let's get to the movie!
Warning: this article will contain spoilers about the movie. If you have seen the original Disney cartoon or read the fairy tale, you already know how the story goes, but I will be discussing some additions to and differences in the recent version.
The movie begins much as the original did, with an introduction to Cinderella and her life. This version, however, goes into much more detail than in the cartoon, even acquainting us briefly with her mother, whose words of wisdom to her daughter before her death - have courage and be kind - are what Ella tries to live up to throughout her trials and tribulations at the hands of her stepmother and stepsisters. The rest of the story, save an additional discussion about arranged marriages and some more insight into the Prince's back story, fits the fairy tale we all know so well. And it's a good thing. Though it can be refreshing to see a new take on a well-known story, director Kenneth Branagh's decision to stick to the original plot but explore the story as he saw fit was genius, since the way it was told made my friend and I forget about the lack of feminism in the story and swept us away to a land where, just for a moment, we could let romance and magic and fantasy win out.
But I'm getting ahead of myself.
Everything moves forward much as you might expect in this movie, and not without a few nods to the original cartoon (Cinderella's talking mice companions were a nice touch). What was interesting in this version was how Ella and the Prince met before the ball - it made both their motivation for attending and the discussions between the Prince and his father and advisors all the more realistic and gave another dimension to the Prince, who was boring, flat, and without a name in the original cartoon. It also made the scene where Cinderella's stepfamily destroyed her dress all the more heartbreaking, and therefore the magical intervention of a fabulously haphazard Fairy Godmother (Helena Bonham Carter) was even more touching. The ending, with the deal between Lady Tremaine (Cate Blanchett) and the Grand Duke (Stellan Skarsgard), was an interesting addition, and not entirely unwelcome, given the suspense it brought to the resolution of the story. All in all, the decision to only slightly alter the storyline was a wise one, given that the 6 and 8 year old girls who saw the movie with me thought that the story was, in their own words, "perfect and soooooo romantic". Us adults were a little more skeptical, especially with our own skewed views on whether a 'happily ever after' really exists, but I admit to appreciating the way that the story was fleshed out. And as an adult viewer, I also enjoyed the more in-depth characterization of the wicked stepmother. I'll admit to being a big fan of Cate Blanchett, so I may just be a little biased, but I did love how she was able to portray the bitterness and disdain she felt towards Cinderella that ultimately stemmed not just from her own twisted personality, but from the way her own husband clearly preferred his own flesh and blood over her. It made me feel a bit sorry for her, and added another layer of depth to the movie that I wasn't expecting.
And if we're talking about the characters, I can't not mention the whimsical portrayal of the Fairy Godmother. Helena Bonham Carter is excellent at portraying the slightly batty, and her short appearance on screen was both charming and funny. Her own humor, coupled with the special effects for her magical endeavors, made her scene one of the strong points of the film. The only character I was a bit disappointed with was Cinderella herself. In the cartoon, she is the heart and soul of the story, and is immediately likeable. Lily James is the same here, but unfortunately I found that to pale in comparison to the Prince's struggles and story, and made her less interesting than the other characters in the film. Still, I did like that she fell in love with the Prince before knowing who he was, and it was wonderful to see her stay true to her mantra and be kind throughout the whole movie, since it really fit with both her mother's advice and to the age-old fairy tale credo that tells us that kindness always wins out in the end.
But for me, the main strength of this movie was not the plot, nor the characters. This movie is visually stunning and most of its strength comes from the way the set designers, costume designers, and anyone related to the special effects department translated what they saw in the cartoon version to real life. The Fairy Godmother scene is especially well done. I already mentioned that I loved the haphazardness of Helena Bonham Carter, and the visual effects - in particular, the transformed animals who maintained some of their animal characteristics even though they had become something else - matched perfectly with the "I'm not sure I can actually pull this off" vibe HBC demonstrates throughout the whole scene. And allow me to take a moment to fawn over the glorious costumes created for this film. Though I loved the take on Cinderella's iconic ball gown and was very impressed with the Fairy Godmother's getup, Lady Tremaine's dresses are what really steal the show. I am a sucker for a well-dressed villain, and every costume change had me a little greener with envy.
Overall, I loved that the film stayed true to the fairy tale and to the original Disney cartoon, yet was able to add enough to the story and to the characters that it stayed exciting to watch and still managed to give us a few surprises. Though the visual side was stronger than some of the characterization, it was still a beautifully-crafted show that didn't leave any of us indifferent. I'm no expert, but I think Walt Disney would have been proud.
4 of 5 glass slippers
