Content:
-Safe for families
-One or two very mild innuendos
Recommendation:
Adults and children alike will enjoy it. Adults may even like it more. If you have a family, take your kids to see it. Even if you are single, it is worth your money.
When I first heard Disney was going to make live-action versions of their classic animated films I thought it was a dumb idea after seeing Maleficent. However, after seeing Kenneth Branagh's "Cinderella," I am on board. Bring on Hermione playing Belle!
In many ways, this "Cinderella" updates the original, which was released in 1950. It was a simple time when everyone needed to get married in order to move on with their lives, and the animated version reflects this. While there are several lessons girls could take, the one that sticks out is having a man to marry will make their lives better.
Values have shifted over the years, and while marriage is still important, it has become less of an end-all to happiness. Society has learned through the high divorce-rate that if two people get married, they should be in love. It should not be looked at as the only thing that will make one happy. An unhappy single person will still be unhappy after marriage.
The 2015 live-action version changes this in a positive way. The film repeats a different lesson several times: kindness and courage will win out in the end. Cinderella (Lily James), first hears this advice from her mother (Hayley Atwell), and she takes it to heart. While her step mother (Kate Blanchett) and step sisters make her life a living hell, she tries to make the best of things.
When she meets the prince (Richard Madden) for the first time, what attracts him is not her physical beauty but her kindness. She makes such an impression on him that he tries convincing his dad (Derek Jacobi) to let him marry for love rather than politics. Because of her, the prince throws the ball where commoners have just as much a chance as princesses to meet him.
Another way this film improves upon the original is the development of Cinderella's life story. In the animated version, it is introduced through a brief narration. It never introduces the audience to her parents. We simply know they died before the story starts. The 2015 film shows the parents and develops them well enough to create a heart-breaking death scene of Cinderella's mother.
It also does a good job showing how the relationship between Cinderella and her step mother evolves. Kate Blanchett brings a sense of depth to her character. She is evil, but the film hints that the reason for this may stem from jealousy of Cinderella's loving relationship with her father.
While this is undoubtedly a modernized update, director Kenneth Branagh masterfully keeps the same magic that was present in the original. This shows when the fairy godmother (Helena Bonham Carter) transforms animals, clothing and a pumpkin to make Ella ready for the ball. It is also there when Ella dances with the prince in the ballroom. The way the camera moves to the music makes us as an audience feel we are dancing as well.
