How do you get a guy like me to watch a movie like Cinderella? Well, first, you get the director of Thor; Kenneth Branagh. Then you fill the supporting cast with great actors like Cate Blanchett, Helen Bonham Carter, Stellan Skarsgard, and Game of Thrones star Richard Madden as the prince. Being a big GoT fan I couldn't help but rush at the chance to see Robb Stark at a party his entire family doesn't die at.
Lily James stars as Ella, a young woman who has lost both her parents to tragedy, and is then forced into servitude by her step-sisters and step-mother, played by Blanchett. When Ella runs into a charming man named Kit she desires to go to the royal ball in hopes of seeing him again, but her step-mother will have none of it. With some help from her fairy godmother Ella becomes the belle of the ball and meets Kit on the dance floor; still not knowing he is the prince. However, Ella must depart from Kit at midnight leaving behind only a glass slipper. The prince must find his love before he is forced to marry someone else, but if it's up to Ella's step-mother that day will never come.
Well, now that I've just given you an overview of a story we all know let me try and tell you something new. Cate Blanchett nails the part of the wicked step-mother. It's no surprise given her talent, but he helps carry James through a few scenes that make their relationship work on-screen. Not that Lily James wasn't a delight. She played the lead wonderfully, and seemed to have some actual chemistry with Madden. The only other actors who I think made a difference in this film were the two girls that played Cinderella's step-sisters; Sophie McShera and Holliday Grainger. They were quite funny; just as their characters are supposed to be.
Kenneth Branagh has always been good at period pieces. He has a way of making an unfamiliar time and place seem recognizable and comfortable. However, I felt like the film could have used at least one decent action sequence, and chasing a stag nor fencing practice counts in my book.
The real surprise delight in this film was the music by Chris Doyle. Doyle worked on Thor with Branagh and has also scored films like Brave and Rise of the Planet of the Apes. I think his music helped elevate the more memorable scenes like when Cinderella arrives at the ball and Ella and Kit meeting at the end of the film.
If I were to give this film any strikes it'd be the constant narrating by Helen Bonham Carter throughout the film. After a while I just wanted her to shut it and let us see the events unfold without color commentary. I didn't even mind the CGI mice that Cinderella seemed to communicate with. If they were wearing clothes like in the 1950 animated film I might have taken issue with it though.
I also enjoyed how well Branagh and company stuck to the original source material. Other classic Disney animated movies turned live-action like Alice in Wonderland or Maleficent tried to put a modern spin on their tales. This film was a straight adaptation with a good message. "Have courage, and be kind."
Overall, when the film was done, I felt like this was the best interpretation of the material I've ever seen. I only wished my daughter was a little older as I saw girls in princess outfits dancing in the aisles after. I will buy it when it comes to blu-ray so she can grow up watching it. Though, for now, I'm sure she'll enjoy the Frozen Fever short more than the actual movie. Then, one day, when she comes of age to watch Game of Thrones, she'll probably find it even more terrifying when Kit, his wife, his mother, and unborn child all die a horrible, bloody, death.
RATING: B
No comments:
Post a Comment