For the past 60 years, Disney has strong-handed and pigeonholed the princess genre into their moneymaking machine. Anyone who's at least seen pictures from Disneyland can say this isn’t much of an exaggeration. While it’s not a mystery why Disney went back to the Cinderella well again—the princess is arguably the most popular in Disney’s canon, besides perhaps Snow White—the lingering question remains: What is there really left to say about her?
Everyone knows Cinderella’s story. Even if they haven’t seen the original 1950 animated film or heard the original Grimm brothers’ tale, it’s a countlessly retold tale, given modern day twists whenever possible and built upon dubious morals and flat characters. To the credit of director Kenneth Branagh and screenwriter Chris Weitz, they don’t so much revamp the Cinderella fable in their new 2015 film as much as expand on its morals. They seek time to add layers where they laid bare before, and provide depth to originally paper-thin characters in ways neither overbearing nor painfully obvious. Well, at least for a mainstream family feature that is.
This new Cinderella is a surprisingly engaging and sweet film audiences of all ages and both genders should enjoy. It’s lavish and grand, but its acute attention to character, classism and set pieces makes for an immensely satisfying and heartfelt film. It’s therefore better than any Cinderella tale should be, based on the source material.
One of the main reasons for this success is because Cinderella (2015) the first in Disney’s recent trend of live-action remakes to successfully recreate the whimsy and charm of the original animated film. By progressing its themes and characters for a wiser and rightfully more demanding modern-day audience, Branagh makes what can best be described as a competent and appropriate revision, lovingly capturing what made the original special but bold enough to demand more texture in the tale.
Details are added not to shake things up but rather to give weight to the situations and stakes we all know so well, which only become more rich and engaging as Disney’s latest continues its running time. Unlike 2010’s Alice in Wonderland and The Sorcerer’s Apprentice or last year’s Maleficent, the filmmakers focus their attentions here on grandiose sets and characters in equal measures. It also doesn’t hurt that these backdrops look more palpable and livable than they ever did in the overly VFX-filled remakes mentioned above.
Branagh, a true Shakespearian scholar and a lover of literature, understands the value of drawn-out pacing in terms of character development. As such, when the fairy tale-centric aspects blossom and Cinderella’s wondrous adventure comes alive, the special effects—actually well realized this time—add to the enchantment. The visual effects here are not overly berated or substitutes for character, as they were in Disney’s other recent reimaginings. This is all to say that the Disney magic is not only is finally alive again, but earned.
While Lily James never excels in the titular role, she contains a humble sweetness in channeling the classic character. The triumph of her performances comes from Weitz’s thickening the relationship our protagonist has with her actual parents. A vital part of the film’s first half, we see Cinderella become the forgotten stepchild she is, instead of being forced narratively into her predicament through hazy montages or lazily-written execution.
It’s one of the few times retelling someone’s backstory pays off because we actually get to see Cinderella’s journey from top to bottom to top again in due fashion. She’s not just a happy-go-lucky, unrealistically chipper personality; she’s just merely a hopeful soul lost in an unfortunate parade of bleak outcomes. We see her taught that to be kind is to win in the end and we see her parents treat people who are good and win out in the end, so she reasons to remain gleeful.
It may not be realistic, but it at least hosts weight, and when Cinderella finally progresses into a confident, freed individual, it’s justified and winning. Most importantly, she’s no damsel in distress. She’s finally her own person.
Equally as rich this time is the relationship between Prince Charming (Richard Madden) and his king father (Derek Jacobi). Once a mere footnote in Cinderella’s progression to become a vapid princess and dotting wife, Branagh and Weitz even take the time to make their relationship fulfilling and vindicated. Sequences where they discuss the nature of adulthood and one’s sense of responsibility feel relatable and honest, even if it’s a king and his prince son who say these words. And when it comes time for their sympathetic goodbyes, the emotions of the moment are not melodramatic but feel genuinely moving.
Even the wicked Stepmother, played by the always-dependable Cate Blanchett, is given some back story and weight to her evil ways. She isn’t so much a rotten apple but a disgraced reject of a society she wants to love her back. You don’t ever root for her, but you at least understand at times where she comes from. These points are all to say that the filmmakers make the best of what they got.
They know they have the bare bones to work with, and can’t rock the boat too much for they’ll distract their particular audiences. But they make do in fine fashion with what they got. It’s clearly still a work of passion, however, and the attention to detail and grandeur make for an ever-enchanting retelling.
There’s little chance this re-adaptation stands the test of time. It’s not spellbinding or riveting enough a film to be remembered for years to come, but that doesn’t mean it won’t be celebrated in the moment. This Cinderella isn’t a showstopper or a radical must-see, but for fans of competent storytelling, heartfelt care for characters and rich attention to style and flair, it’s still a dream come true.