A live action retelling of the story of Cinderella who loses everything when her beloved father dies, leaving her to have to live in her home with her Stepmother and awful step sisters. They keep her looked in the attic and make her do all of the cleaning and cooking. We know her has Ella this time though, and they give her the name Cinderella.
For whatever reason I missed this film when it had its cinema release earlier this year and something made me watch it on Sky Movies yesterday. Ok maybe because it was an instant play and I was waiting for other films to download? I am just trying to make myself feel better about watching it as I really did not think it was fantastic at all. I don’t know if it is because we already know the full story so watching it with real people just seems a little bit strange at times? Like the mice and glass slipper were the things I struggled with the most in all honesty, in a cartoon they just seem to work a little better.
Boosting a rather impressive cast with the incredible Cate Blanchett taking on the role of the Stepmother, she is awesome but I think she could have pulled off being even more wicked! I loved the small part for Helena Bonham Carter as the Fairy Godmother as let’s face it she is an actress who is always brilliant in whatever role she takes on. My main problems actually came from the lead roles with Lily James as Cinderella and especially Richard Madden as the Prince. The lack of chemistry between the pair was pretty awful in my opinion and he just seemed like a cardboard cut out, which was disappointing as it was a different type of role from what we are used to after his Game of Thrones stint. I understand Lily James is a newcomer to film but I just thought she was too weak to take on the lead and have people enjoy it, can’t really put my finger on what I didn’t like about her. I just thought the film as a whole fell massively short.
I mean I don’t know how it could have possibly been any different, although actually having her called Ella and seeing her mother to begin with. The relationship with her father and her Stepmother did not seem great at all, just like it happened rather than any hint of romance. I do like the majority British cast as I think that’s something that you may not expect from a Disney film, I guess we have Kenneth Branagh to thank for that one? This not the first live action Fairy Tale film we have had, and it is by no means the last as we have a couple coming in the next few years. Surely it’s just showing lack of creativity in terms of storytelling? I wish I had not bothered to catch up with this one, as it had more bad than good moments.
