Cinderella
Grade: B+
Starring: Lily James, Richard Madden, Cate Blanchett, Derek
Jacobi, Stellan Skarsgard, Nonso Anozie and Helena Bonham Carter, with Ben
Chaplin and Haley Atwell as Cinderella’s Parents and Sophie McShera and Holliday
Grainger as her Stepsisters
Premise: An orphaned young maiden struggles to keep alive
her belief in magic and goodness while she is cruelly treated by her stepmother
and stepsisters. But, after a chance meeting with a prince, the maiden’s destiny
seems on the verge of a drastic change if only a little magic can be summoned
on her behalf.
Rated PG (contains emotional content and some intense
moments)
It just so happened that I didn’t have to buy my ticket to the
new Cinderella movie myself. This was
a relief, as I had been slightly embarrassed at how I would seem to the
box-office attendant, walking up to buy a lone ticket for Cinderella, what with being a 26-year-old man and all. It turned
out I didn’t have to (shout-out to a certain very good friend :) ),
but, in hindsight, I’m not sure I would have minded. True, I have bought tickets
to much more terrible movies, but I could probably have proudly bought a ticket
for this movie mainly because, in hindsight, this new Cinderella movie is special.
I can’t imagine that anyone was clamoring for a new Cinderella movie. The original Disney
cartoon from 1950 is as entrenched in Disney lore as anything, the title
character already a staple of the Disney Princess collection, and it’s
difficult to imagine anyone today not knowing the basics of the Cinderella story.
There have also been at least a dozen Cinderella
remakes, updates, adaptations, etc… So, we all know the gist. Plus, amidst
the recent wave of gritty-live-action fairy-tale upgrades (Alice in Wonderland, Snow White & The Huntsman, Oz the Great and
Powerful, Jack the Giant Slayer, Maleficent, etc…) it’s clear Hollywood
studios will turn anywhere these days to make a quick couple million bucks, so it was easy to consider the release of a new Cinderella a purely mercenary move. Basically, I wasn't that excited about.
Well, it was worth
getting excited about (read more below). Really, it was. I mean, I thought it
was better than Frozen…
Plot
Raised in the foothills of a wealthy, majestic kingdom by
her loving, affectionate parents (Ben Chaplin and Haley Atwell), Ella (played
as a child by Eloise Webb) was taught to be brave, and to be kind to anyone and
everyone. She was also taught to believe in her dreams, to believe in magic.
Even as her mother faded from a mysterious illness, Ella was taught to chin up
and smile, because her “Fairy Godmother” was watching over her to protect her.
Holding onto her cherished memories of her mother, Ella (played as an adult by
25-year-old actress Lily James), even manages to smile and earnestly welcome
the arrival of her father’s second wife (Cate Blanchett) and her two snooty
daughters, Drisella (Sophie McShera) and Anastasia (Holliday Grainger). Ella
even retains a sliver of optimism when her father unexpectedly passes
while on a trip out of the country. However, her optimism and kindness are not
matched by her stepmother and stepsisters (there’s a reason her
stepmother’s cat is named Lucifer). Within days, Ella is reduced to living in
the attic, doing all the cooking and cleaning in the household while eating her
meals by herself and having no one for company but a band of crumb-snatching
mice.
Her days consistently more dreary and difficult, Ella’s
resolve starts to crack. One day, she considers running away, making it all the
way into the nearby woods. There, she happens to meet a handsome, well-dressed
young man (Richard Madden) on a hunt with his companions. His name is Kit, he
says, and, while he doesn’t admit it to Ella just then, he’s the son of
the aging king (Derek Jacobi) who lives in the nearby palace. While they go
their separate ways—Ella compelled by her unending kindness to go back to the house
to continue to do her stepmother’s bidding—both are charmed, and, when a ball
is announced to which all young maidens in the land can attend, both dare to
hope they’ll see that person again. After
all, the ball is meant to help the prince find a bride, and the prince is actually open-minded enough to consider marrying someone who isn’t royalty. Ella’s hopes
seem snuffed out when her stepmother not only refuses to let her go to the ball
but also tears a beloved old dress of Ella’s mother’s, which Ella hoped to wear
to the ball. But, just as Ella seems to be encountering her darkest, saddest
moment, it turns out she does have a Fairy Godmother (Helena Bonham Carter). And
the fact that Ella doesn’t have a dress, a carriage, horses, or any of the
other trappings needed to get her to the ball and help her make an impression
doesn’t seem to bother her Fairy Godmother in the least. Turns out, all that’s
needed is a little magic.
What Works?
To me, the main thing that works in this Cinderella is the movie’s avoidance of
the traps that have hindered pretty much all of the other recent live-action
upgrades of fairy tales. That is, this movie doesn’t try to be any hipper,
funnier, sexier, quirkier or cooler then the cartoon version. There are no
added action scenes. No make-out scenes. No modern-day pop-culture references.
No toilet/bodily humor. No exaggeratedly goofy humor (in a family film in this
day and age, that’s an unbelievable
feat). No corny sidekicks. No extra villains or potential love interests. No
wink-wink innuendos. No over-the-top musical number to close things out. This
movie is earnest and straight-forward.
I'm not sure if I knew this beforehand or not, but the movie was
directed by Kenneth Branagh, who is best known as Hollywood ’s main cinematic auteur of all
things Shakespeare. Well, the Cinderella story is not based on Shakespeare, but
it’s not difficult to fathom that this movie came from someone who loves
Shakespeare but is also trying to connect with today’s audiences, because, what
“extra trappings” the movie has are clearly meant to give it a glossy, classic feel. There are a few swooping camera/CGI crane shots showing the whole
kingdom or the lands surrounding Ella’s home. The building interiors and,
especially, the costumes, are gorgeous—the colors just pop. Key plot points are iterated by a town crier (Alex Macqueen,
in a likeably-committed performance), which makes them seem all the more epic. Like I said, there are no unnecessary villains or forced love triangles, but there is just enough intrigue late to keep things from being completely by-the-numbers as we progress to our predetermined conclusion. Die-hard fans of the cartoon will appreciate both the appearance of Lucifer the
cat, and the mice Ella befriends, who don’t talk or sing but figure prominently
at a couple points, one of which sees them turned into horses. The critters are
convincingly rendered and aren’t used for comic relief. And the phrase “bippity-boppity-boo”
is heard, though it is only briefly
done—the closest this movie has to a wink-wink moment.
While the look of the movie figures prominently in my
overall impression (it is worth
seeing on the big screen), the movie’s characters are, of course, first and
foremost. And Branagh has assembled quite a troupe, even if there are no real
household names in the bunch. Audiences may recognize Lily James from Downton Abbey, Richard Madden and the
hulking Nonso Anozie (as one of his royal captains) from HBO’s Game of Thrones, Cate Blanchett from her
appearances in all six Lord of the
Rings/Hobbit movies (she’s also won two Oscars), Hayley Atwell from the Captain America/Avengers/Agents of Shield universe, Stellan Skarsgard (as the Grand Duke) from his mentor roles
in Good Will Hunting and Thor, and some might even recognize
Derek Jacobi from his appearances in some of Branagh’s early ‘90s Shakespeare adaptations.
And, of course, there's Helena Bonham Carter, from movies as
varied as The King’s Speech, the Harry Potter series, and the remakes of Willy Wonka, Alice
It’s a stretch to say any of these actors give
three-dimensional performances, but they don’t need to. In a movie like this,
with a story everyone knows, Oscar-worthy acting/character development isn’t necessarily
needed. But nearly every character has two dimensions—something to them—that makes it click. Time is taken to develop
Madden’s prince and Jacobi’s ailing King, not to mention their subordinates
Anozie and Skarsgard. And while Blanchett is certainly capable of playing sheer
villainy, she’s convincing as the stepmother who is snooty and imperious but also embittered (another big bonus point for this movie: though
Ella cries several times about her treatment at the hands of her stepmother and
stepsisters, their cruelty isn’t over-the-top—this movie avoids the sheer
misery that engulfed the 1998 version, Ever After).
Basically, I know we’ve had everything from Maleficent to a brooding Alice in Wonderland to two different Snow White adaptations, but, to me, this
it the best and most well-rounded “fairy tale adaptation” so far.
What Doesn’t Work?
I honestly don’t have many criticisms. Like I said, this
movie avoids the kinds of pitfalls that usually nag family films, like
over-silliness. I will say that, while James’ performance is believable, it was
slightly hard to believe her character would be so kind and naïve that she wouldn’t try to stick up for herself a
little bit more against her stepmother and stepsisters. I don’t know if they should
have made her stepmother a little more cruel and domineering or have Ella try
to stick up for herself and be rebuffed, but she seemed to give in awfully
quick. It’s also worth noting that, with the exception of the glowing ball gown
she wears for the story’s signature sequence, she wears the same plain,
light-blue dress the entire movie,
even when she’s not locked in the attic (I couldn’t help wondering if this was
a merchandizing ploy, but you know little girls are going to want Ball-Gown
Cinderella anyway, not Regular-Everyday-Dress-Cinderella). She also seems to
forget at one key point that her actual name is Ella, not Cinderella (that was a cruel nickname hoisted upon her by her
stepsisters)—if you see the movie and recognize the moment I’m talking about,
let me ask you: do you think she was trying to be especially humble or
something?
Anyway, these are nitpicks. This was a lovely movie.
Content
PG! Nary a cussword, make-out, drop of blood or bodily gag
to be found. There are a few intense moments with Ella’s chariot turning back
into a pumpkin while racing down a country road, or with the same pumpkin’s
transformation into a chariot occurring so suddenly that it threatens to squash
our heroine, but nothing more severe then that. There are also a fair amount of
emotional moments, and not all of them have to do with Ella’s parents dying or
with her being mistreated—the film’s emotional peak actually has to do with the
prince, and I’ll be darned if that didn’t get me choked up. You’re
dead inside if that scene doesn’t “hit you in the feels”.
Bottom Line
Cinderella wasn’t
perfect, but it was really close. It’s
a gorgeously-made, well-acted movie that’s not excessively girly, excessively
silly, or trying to be anything other than a sincere recreation of a beloved
Disney story. To me, this is the best yet of the “live-action fairy-tale adaptations” we’ve
seen in recent years, better then even Alice
Cinderella (2015)
Directed by Kenneth Branagh
Screenplay by Chris Weitz
Rated PG
Length: 112 minutes
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