Cinderella

Year: 2015
Genre: Drama
Directed: Kenneth Branagh
Stars: Lily James, Cate Blanchett, Richard Madden, Helena Bonham Carter, Nonso Anozie, Stellan Skarsgard, Sophie McShera, Holliday Grainger, Derek Jacobi, Ben Chaplin, Hayley Atwell
Production: Disney Studios

It's a tale as old as time, and song as old as rhyme (oops wrong movie). A beautiful woman falls for a charming prince and thanks to a little luck, a few friends, a dollop of magic and a lot of charm, the two live happily ever after. We all know the story, we all know the stakes and we all know the characters not to mention how this classic fairy-tale ends. The question then becomes is this adaptation really necessary?

On the face of it no it doesn't. This new adaptation of Disney's watered down European folk tale is by all accounts, little more than an attempt to rake in nostalgia dollars while continuing to increase brand recognition. It's a marketing ploy meant to weave Disney's version of whimsy into the generations by getting daughter, mother and grandmother to appreciate the same story at the exact same time for the exact same reason. Yet despite of the obvious pandering, despite the little to no risk the story is imbued with and regardless on how formal the film is as to resemble an embalmed corpse, Cinderella is not without its charm.

Much of that charm is put on the capable shoulders of Lily James who plays our lovely lead. Told since the death of her mother (Atwell) to "be brave and kind, always," James keeps the innocence of Cinderella alive with a true purity of soul. She sells this role which under more tepid hands would have come off as milquetoast or worse still, just plain flat. Richard Madden likewise has a certain way about him that is sympathetic enough to convince the adults in the room while being transparent enough for children to understand his character.

Oddly enough if there are sour apples in the bunch it's the veteran actresses, Helena Bonham Carter and buxom mistress of waspishness Cate Blanchett. As the fairy godmother, Carter is trifling and downright annoying at times. Cinderella proves herself on every occasion to be a genuine article saint yet her godmother sees it fit to test her before any magic is to be received. Additionally her rendition of Bippity-Boppity-Bop is Bippity-Boppity-Bad.

I'm this way because my mother never hugged me.

Blanchett has the opposite problem, she does her character far too much service. She brings a lot of layers and subtext to her character and if she were a wicked stepmother in any other film, her characterization would be award worthy. Yet since this is Cinderella, she's automatically compared to the nearly supernatural nefariousness that was Eleanor Audley's Lady Tremaine. A woman who needed no backstory because she was a force of evil and not some sad aging vamp. Blanchett's stepmother is sympathetic...but does she need to be?

There are some other liberties taken with the story but none radical enough to change the tale for better or much worse. If anything the little changes get in the way of what's really important about Cinderella; the costumes. And boy does Cinderella deliver on the period detail with beautiful bodices hemstitched with multi-colored laces and assorted filigree. When together the Prince and Cinderella look like they belong on top of a wedding cake. Young girls with little to no exposure of the 1950 animated Cinderella will be outright astounded by the ballroom beauty of director Kenneth Branagh's sets. That's of course is when they're not giggling with glee over the rapturous magical effects.

I'm of two minds when it comes to this film. On the one hand I abhor Disney's need to mine their old properties for glittering pieces of nostalgia then re-purpose them so they can sell it to a new generation while (I suspect) saving money on new Disney World attractions. Yet at a time when family entertainment has become so fragmented and specialized, seeing something everyone can recognize and enjoy in a communion of leg-crossing attentiveness and anticipation isn't all that awful. Plus any little girl not yet made cruel by the realities of life will inevitably idolize Cinderella for who she is and what she represents. And why shouldn't she? She looks good while doing it.

Final Grade: C