Let’s get Frozen Fever out of the way first. If you’ve seen any previews for Cinderella you’re probably aware of the fact that there’s a Frozen short before the movie. I loved Frozen. I may or may not have had the soundtrack on non-stop in my car for the better part of a month. Frozen Fever however was bad. The one and only song was terrible and felt forced. It also felt like the writer went for all of the easy jokes. They weren’t even able to capture a smidge of the magic of the movie. The only good part was getting to see the characters again, the rest was bad. So don’t go out of your way to see Cinderella if you’re just doing it to see Frozen Fever. It’s not worth it.
The song from Beauty and the Beast might say it’s a “tale as old as time,” but they obviously didn’t know that Cinderella was going to be retold over and over again. In 1950 Disney released the first animated Cinderella and now sixty-five years later they’ve released two sequels (to a story that never had one to begin with), and a handful of other remakes and retellings. So 2015’s Cinderella was taking a big chance. Is the retelling worthy of your hard earned money? Or is it a stale attempt and Disney is just out of new ideas? Well here’s my review.
I was a bit worried about how Cinderella would turn out because once again Disney is showing us that they have problems with original ideas. But I’ll tell you what. My worries were unfounded. It was actually not that bad. Hell, it was even good. This new Cinderella didn’t have an easy job. They had to retell a story we’re all familiar with and also keep our interest while doing so. They also couldn’t deviate from the story much or they’ll risk making Disney superfans everywhere rage. So they had to walk a fine line. And walk a fine line they did. I’m not sure if they had a real fairy godmother or if they just got really lucky, but either way it worked.
I’m sorry, but do you happen to know the time? Oh, yes, it’s time to talk about the acting! YAY! That’s almost better than nap time! Anywho, the actors in Cinderella provided some great performance but of course look at who they gave us. Let’s start with (Cinder)Ella herself Lily James (Downton Abbey) who did a spectacular job and showing the struggle of staying kind while dealing with a life that’s falling apart around you. Richard Madden (Game of Thrones) played The Prince and if I hadn’t known he was going to be in the movie, I wouldn’t have recognized him. Prince Charming and Robb Stark may have a few similarities but they were written different enough and portrayed different enough that saw no hint of Stark in Charming. Madden wasn’t given too much to work with when it came to an emotion pallet but he did a fine job with what he had. The best performance was given by the always fantastic Cate Blanchett and she brought life to a normally two dimensional character. True, the writing is in part to thank for that but her delivery is what gave it all life. The evil stepmother is usually one of those villains who are evil for the sake of being evil, no reason given. But this incarnation of the Cinderella tale gave her depth and, in a very small way, made her relatable. I don’t want to spend too much more time talking about the acting but it’s worth noting that everyone did their job well. I would usually be raving about Helena Bonham Carter right now but, as the Fairy Godmother, she wasn’t given a lot of screen time.
Like I said before, Cinderella had a difficult job. It had to keep my attention glued to a story that I could recite as easily as the ones I’ve written myself. They were able to pull it off with a combination of perfectly cast characters, beautiful set pieces, and the addition of a few new things that didn’t stray too far from the original. The fact that all the major parts of the movie were predictable did little to bore me and when all was said and done I enjoyed myself from beginning to end. The only problem I had was on an oh so small part with a goose in the background who looked so obviously CG it took me out of the movie, but only for a moment. But that was it. That was my main problem. One small scene with sloppy CG. Disney, who has Pixar in the back pocket, has no excuse.
Some of you may know that there’s some minor controversy surrounding Lily James and her tiny waist. The Huffington Post, a cesspool of blowhards and douche bags, and a few other “news” websites had articles about it but you know what? I don’t care. I’m not here to talk about that. I’m here to talk about the movie if it was good or not. If there had been any hint that her tiny waist was why the prince liked her or that Cinderella was somehow better off for being tiny, THEN I would say something. But just having a tiny waist? Who cares?
On a side note, I hope the Prince can avoid a fiasco like the Red Wedding. I’d have made a more specific comment but I didn’t want to risk spoiling Game of Thrones for someone. But come on, if you’ve gone this long and haven’t seen the Red Wedding yet, it’s your own fault.
So let me wrap this all up with one final overview. Cinderella did a good job of retelling a well known story all the while keeping it interesting. The acting was great, the visuals and settings were great, and the few new things that were added served to enhance the story as a whole. Cinderella was much better than I thought it’d be. I’m ashamed to say I sat down ready to judge it. I was prepared to give it a “meh” review. But I enjoyed myself quite a bit and if any of you, my dear readers, have the time and money, go see this in theaters. It’s well worth it.
Cinderella gets a 9 out of 11
Frozen Forever gets a 4 out of 11