If a film review’s purpose is to inform you whether a movie delivers on its promise, then covering Disney’s live action Cinderella remake is the simplest and happiest of tasks for a critic. Quite simply this Cinderella delivers EXACTLY what it promises. Perfectly. Beautifully. Magically.
The only question you need ask is this: ‘Do I want to see a new Cinderella?’ If the answer is yes, you will love this.
Where Maleficent struggled to find anyone to match Angelina Jolie’s dominating performance and Snow White and the Huntsman strayed too far from the path, Cinderella takes the seemingly obvious, but seldom-seen approach of taking a classic, carefully pulling it apart, lovingly polishing or even upgrading each component then putting it back together bigger, better and yet still recognisably familiar.
A strong dash of modern sensibility gives Lily James’ Ella (the prefix comes later) a much firmer hand in her own destiny. She’s not clumsily bestowed with a sword and sent off to slay beasties, instead this is a tale of kindness, yet our heroine demonstrates that self-sacrifice and inner strength are genuine qualities of power if sincerely motivated and clearly chosen.
Cinderella’s 21st century currency is woven elegantly into the gorgeous fabric of fairy tale magic that director Kenneth Branagh lets sing throughout every scene, and James’ pitch-perfect performance is neatly supported by the amazing addition of the likes of Cate Blanchett, Helena Bonham Carter and Rob Brydon (in a scene-stealingly hysterical 45 seconds) who prove you can leap off the screen without dominating the story.
This is the perfect retelling of a classic tale that will delight any who believed in magical kingdoms, once upon a time.
