Cinderella (2015) Review

Today, we are looking at Disney's newest live-action remake flick, Cinderella


Does anyone remember that review I did of another recent Disney live-action remake, Maleficent?
Well, if you do, you probably know that I didn't enjoy it at all...I mean, I hated it. And it is absolutely in my "top five most hated films, by me" list. (That's actually a good idea for a blog post. I need to write that down...)

Anyway, as I was saying. I didn't like Maleficent, and when seeing the half-a-second trailer they had put out about a new Cinderella movie, I was more than displeased.

I thought, "How can they do this to me? I can't take two terrible Disney remakes. I just can't!"

You see, as much as I like Sleeping Beauty, I like the original Disney classic Cinderella more! I  definitely grew up watching it way more than Sleeping Beauty and I just all around love the characters and story a bit more than that of Sleeping Beauty. So seeing this was going to be a must, even if it did not peak my interest. I just had to see what they were doing with this movie. To my surprise, when I went to see Into the Woods (another Disney remake), a little pressure was pulled from me.

 I really really enjoyed Into the Woods, and I thought "Hey, if Cinderella is as good as this, I definitely want to see it!"

Turns out, when I saw the full length trailer for it, it actually looked "decent." I didn't know for sure though. So, I didn't get my hopes too high. I saw the movie...And what did I think of it???




We all know the story of Cinderella. If not, here it is:

After her mother dies, Cinderella's father marries another woman. Along with her daughters, she is a terribly mean person, and when Cinderella's father dies, she is treated like a slave. She is forced to do chores, and to eat table scraps, while they sit around and do nothing. One day, the prince has a ball, and every maiden in the kingdom is invited. He will then choose one to be his bride. This sparks the Stepmother and Stepsisters' interests, and they decide to go, but leave Cinderella at home. A fairy godmother comes down, and grants Cinderella her wish of going to the ball in a fancy carriage and dress, but only until 12:00 midnight, when the spell ends. She goes to ball, and the prince falls in love with her. But, through some amazing time lapse, it turns almost 12:00, and she has to leave. As she leaves, her shoe is left behind...

No! I wasn't talking about that!

 The prince tries the shoe on every girl in the kingdom, until he finds Cinderella and marries her on the spot.

Pros-

That's how the story from the original "Cinderella" goes, and for the most part, that's how this one goes. There are few changes with the story, but the changes they made, I didn't mind so much. They weren't major. This isn't a movie about the Stepmom, or the Stepsisters. They didn't become nice. They are pretty much evil to the very end. This movie is about Cinderella. That is the thing I like most about this film. They didn't need to make it "special" or trendy. They just made it the way it was. Not to say this is not unique, cause it is, very unique. It has a lot of special qualities to it, but, because this is spoiler free review, I can't go into them.

The acting, for the most part, is fantastic. And Lily James plays an absolute brilliant Cinderella. She has that special glow about her that really makes her likable. She also doesn't look like a model. That's something I don't like that is in a lot of movies; where the woman is a basic model. Not to say she isn't pretty, she is. She just isn't perfect looking. And that's pretty cool for Disney to do. Then there's the Stepmother and Stepsisters, and they do an amazing job! They are both likable and terrible. They look the part, sound the part, and play the part; while bringing something new to the table. Now, at first glance, you may not think Cate Blanchett looks like a Stepmother, but trust me, she does a fabulous job.

The effects can be corny at times, but nothing distracting. The sets are really cool, and the cinematography is pretty well done. The dialog is very natural, and the plot does a great job of adding new things for the viewers to discover in a relatively old story.

Cons-

But, no thing is perfect. As I said the CGI can get a little corny; falling into that "Maleficent" category. Also...the prince. The prince from the original was lacking any personality or reason. And I hoped that this guy would be a lot better, and while he does improve a bit, it's not near what I wanted it to be. He was a bit too picture perfect, and lacked a viable reason for loving our Cinderella so much. And his name is Kit for some reason...I don't know.

Seriously, this dress! How did it not knock him over?

 
 Final Thoughts-

 I was pleasantly surprised by this film. It is definitely worth going out and seeing it with the whole family. If you're a fan of the original story, I'm sure you'll like this. 

Helena Bonham Carter plays the Fairy Godmother!!!

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Story- 9/10
.
Really great and enjoyable story.

Main Character- 7/10

Cinderella was great, but that Prince.

Side Characters- 8/10

Most if not all the side characters are really lovable.

Villain- 9/10 

Great villain! Loved Cate Blanchett.

Effects/Animation- 5/10

Not too bad, but not good either.

Songs/Score- 7/10

Nothing too special, but what I heard, I liked.

Entertainment Factor- 9/10

I was entertained from minute to end. Although the dancing parts did drag a bit. And this was over two hours long; though it didn't feel like it.

 Total Score-  78%
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