Cinderella: Fantasy Comes to Life

When I was 8, I got a book of ancient Egyptian myths that featured a Cinderella variant called The Girl with the Rose-Red Slippers. There's a reason this story has endured for millennia in various forms among cultures all over the globe. It's a timeless tale with a happily ever after conclusion that could only disappoint if you were an evil stepmother. Now Disney has released a live-action Cinderella based on their classic 1950 animated film, and it proves that you can still never get tired of this story.

This version is incredibly faithful to the animated movie but it makes certain tweaks to lend some plausibility to this fantastical fairytale. Screenwriter Chris Weitz has penned a script that takes away some of the more fanciful and childish bits of the cartoon and focuses on developing these characters. Yes, there's a fairy godmother and a pumpkin that's turned into a carriage, but the actors are delivering much more nuanced performances and are much more grounded than your standard Disney characters. This is not a musical (characters will hum snatches of music from the cartoon but that's about it), and while the mice and other animals are all present, they are merely very well-trained animals, and don't actually start talking to our heroine. 

Lily James plays Cinderella and imbues her with the perfect amount of kindness, awkwardness, and charm. She is not a polished princess, but she is guided by her mother's motto of "Have courage and be kind," which makes her an absolute queen among women. Cate Blanchett does a wonderful job as her wicked stepmother, a woman who is quite dreadful and treats Cinderella abominably. Yet even she has a back story that allows the audience to somewhat understand why she behaves the way she does for the sake of her two spoiled and stupid daughters (played with blithering, entitled perfection by Sophie McShera and Holliday Grainger). And then there's the Prince (affectionately called Kit by his father) who is played by Richard Madden, formerly of Game of Thrones. Here he is given full reign to exercise his charm without fear of another Red Wedding and it isn't too difficult to spot why he and Cinderella have fallen so hard for each other. The two actors have chemistry in spades and it is all quite romantic and splendid.

But the true beauty of this movie lies in the special effects. This is a movie that would have looked appalling ten years ago, but thanks to advances in CGI, all of the magical elements of the story, so easy to render in animated versions, but so challenging to make in a live-action film, have been created with breathtaking beauty. Whether you're watching a mouse turn into a horse, or a pumpkin become a carriage, this is a startlingly fun movie that allows you to suspend your disbelief and just indulge in pure fantasy for an hour and a half. I would be remiss if I didn't mention the spectacular and vibrant costumes by Sandy Powell (complete with those brilliant Swarovski glass slippers) and the sumptuous production design by Dante Ferretti that lends all the authenticity you need to get the audience to truly invest in a fairytale. 

Director Kenneth Branagh has wrangled together the perfect cast and crew to create an earnest and faithful retelling of a classic tale. You admire the heroine for her courage and you never find her kindness too naive or cloying. The Prince is dealing with the weight of family obligations but it is clear that he too is kind and courageous and deserving of Cinderella's love. The ultimate point of the movie seems to be that kindness and bravery are what matter, and while magic may have helped her a little, Cinderella would have always found her prince. Glass slippers and pumpkin carriages are fine things, but in the end, the reason we keep returning to this story is because we all just love a happy ending, no matter how we get there.