Cinderella (2015)

I'm not going to lie. I was not all that excited for this movie. In fact, I was much more anticipating paying for the ticket just so I could check out the new Frozen short that brought back a sense of nostalgia to the older days of Disney and Pixar where they would show a short mini-feature film before the main feature.

It was a big pawn for Disney to remake their animated properties to live-action since almost all of them had sunk to notoriety. (Hello Maleficent and Alice in Wonderland.) And it was also a big pawn for the audiences to get invested in these stories that had been told better. So, with that in mind, I lessened my hopes for the 2015 Kenneth Branagh version of Cinderella, since the source material had been beaten to death many times; heck, Disney previously released a version of Cinderella in Into the Woods, two months prior its US release. But that pessimism had all faded when I was so blown away by what the film turned out.



Cinderella also has the advantage of being well casted. Lilly James is sweet and good looking (but not too pretty) as our heroine. The movie certainly gives her character plenty of patience and kindness, though not much is updated with her personality. I think more have been done with that. It's similar with the prince. He's casted well and they try to work in more political ideas, but the movie continues to snap back into the classic fairy tale. Not that it's bad, as it gives the typical Disney audience a well-done fairy tale character. He' just not updated as much as they could have.

Cate Blanchett is just perfect as Lady Tremaine. Already a good character in animated format, Blanchett gives the character more of a shielded elegance that would prevent most people from seeing the character's darker nature. I love the more psychological manipulation that's a part of her, not just giving control of poor Cinderella, but of the people around her. Even the Stepsisters, though goofy, are more sympathetic as it's made clear that their mother has warped their minds.

I do acknowledge the film's flaws, but I just could not resist it getting me, I had the best time at the theater, I laughed, and I even shed a tear or two. This is probably the best live-action adaptation of a fairy tale Disney has done yet, maybe that's not saying much since the previous ones weren't really that good, but it understands what it is, it know it's place and even has fun with it, not taking itself too seriously.

Overall this was a perfect adaptation of the timeless tale on screen. Well done Disney. Looking forward for some more timeless fairy tales in live action form. I would also like to point out how great of a message this movie had. The message was to live your life with kindness and courage no matter what and just to be positive in general. It is a great message and it is one I wish more films would make.

If you do not like fairy-tales at all, I suggest you steer clear of this one. For the rest of the people, I highly recommend Cinderella as your first choice walking into the theater.

7.8/10·IMDb

83%·Rotten Tomatoes

65%-Metacritics

7.5/10 - Verdict