Cinderella follows the same storyline as the classic fairy tale, but I'll quickly summarize it anyway. The movie begins with Cinderella's mother falling ill and dying, and her father eventually remarries. Her new stepmother and stepsisters start treating her worse and worse as time goes by, and she is left alone to live with them after her father also dies. One day while riding a horse in the woods, she meets a young man who turns out to be the prince of her kingdom. The movie centers on the prince trying to figure out who she is, and Cinderella attempting to escape the control that her stepmother has over her.
As I stated earlier, I am not big on fairy tale movies and thought this would be a half-hearted attempt to "modernize" the classic Cinderella story. But to my surprise, I found that a lot of this film's elements were really well done and deserve to be recognized. To begin, I want to mention that the plot isn't altered at all from the original fairy tale, which in my opinion isn't a positive or negative aspect of the movie. On one hand I kind of wish that the story had been changed up some to give the audience a little surprise, but on the flip side I'm happy that they kept it the same and didn't ruin the movie by over-complicating it.
One thing I did like about Cinderella was how well it was made to suit a wide range of audience members. It's certainly an innocent enough movie to take young children to see, but it's also a movie that people of any age would enjoy watching as well, much like myself. Another positive element of this film is the acting. I feel like all of the actors put a lot of effort into perfecting their respective roles, and I especially though that Cate Blanchett fulfilled her character of the cruel stepmother particularly well. One last note that I want to mention about this movie is how well done the staging, makeup, and costume design components were. These elements all helped immensely in turning Cinderella into a much more colorful and vibrant movie.
Ultimately, Cinderella is a whimsical feel-good film that I think most people, old or young, would enjoy. It does lack a bit of substance although this is to be expected, as it is a lighthearted fairy tale aimed at younger audiences. I was not completely blown away by Cinderella, however I was happy that I spent the time to watch it and overall I would recommend this movie to anyone thinking about seeing it.
Rating: PG
Genre: Fantasy/Romance
Run Time: 112 minutes
Release Date: March 13, 2015
My Rating: ★★★☆☆
