Sorry for the delay in getting this one out, but if you haven’t seen the film yet and wondered how it was, here is Addie’s review, enjoy!!!
Cinderella a Live Action Review Guest Blog by Addie Clark
Cinderella has never been my favorite princess. But I was still wildly excited about the new live-action version which was released Friday. Everything is seen looked phenomenal, director Kenneth Branagh never disappoints and some of my favorite British actors were bringing these classic characters to live. I’m so pleased to report that my expectations were not for naught. The movie was absolutely stunning.
First let me tackle Frozen Fever. Personally, I’m not yet over Frozen. So I have been eagerly awaiting this short along with this movie. I won’t say much to keep people spoiler free, but I’ll have to say that while it was cute, and the song was catchy, and I want Anna’s outfit, I thought Elsa was out of character through most of it. Just my opinion though.
On to the main event. We all know the story of Cinderella. Girl loses mother, father remarries a witch of a woman, then father dies too and she’s left a servant in her own home to her stepmother and two wicked stepsisters. I loved Lily James on Downton Abbey and even though Cinderella is a total departure from her character there, she made a perfect Cinderella. Her mothers dying advice to “have courage and be kind” was believably pulled off in James hands, standing masterfully toe-to-toe with Cate Blanchett’s delightfully wicked stepmother, Lady Tremaine. Anastasia and Drizella (Holliday Grainger and Sophie McShera, the latter also playing delightfully against her Downton Abbey character) were positively fabulous.
The benefit of this live action update was adding more character development, especially for the Prince. Richard Madden is entirely handsome (which I’ve thought since he showed up on Game of Thrones) and makes a wonderful Prince Charming, but also give dimension to an otherwise flat character in the animated classic. His backstory and side bars were a welcome addition.
In addition to being a wonderful film, it was also beautiful. The colors were all so vibrant and the film was overall just gorgeous, as were the stunning costumes. Seeing the blue ball gown on the big screen was absolutely breathtaking. And her wedding gown at the end was as beautiful as the pictures looked. The film was everything I wanted it to be and I was so pleased. I’m actually now looking forward to some of the upcoming live action movies Disney has planned. I’m hopeful they will be as good.
Michele also contributes theme park news for Fox 35 Orlando 11pm news and on the radio on WDBO.
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