Starring: Lily James, Cate Blanchett, Richard Madden, Helena Bonham Carter, Derek Jacobi, Stellan Skarsgard, Sophie McShera and Holliday Grainger
Running Time: 1 Hour and 52 Minutes
Such a pleasant surprise! The classic Cinderella fairy-tale retold again in 2015 with all of its beauty and charm. To say I enjoyed this movie would be an understatement, I really loved this version!
It was beautiful, touching, colorful and breathtaking. I really did not want it to end!
I grew up enamoured with The Rodgers and Hammerstein's classical 1965 version with Leslie Ann Warren and so I was really looking forward to Disney's new rendition.
It follows the classic 1697 version written by the French author Charles Perrault.
Young Ella finds herself an orphan when her wonderful mother suddenly becomes very ill and perishes due to illness. Her dear mother gave her some very wise words of wisdom shortly before she passed and told young Ella to "have courage and be kind", that she should never ever forget that advice! Left all alone with her beloved father, he became very lonely and decided to take a wife, Lady Tremaine (Cate Blanchett) until he too suddenly and tragically dies.
Ella is left alone in her beautiful estate at the mercy of her new and very evil and sinister stepmother Lady Tremaine and her two perfect daughters Anastasia (Holliday Grainger) and Drisella (Sophie McShera).
The stepmother was kind in the beginning but little by little became more demanding and then just downright mean and cruel to Cinderella! Insisting that she do all of the work, cleaning, cooking and all of the chores around the house. She would work around the fireplace and get the cinders and dirt on herself, so one of the step-sisters decided to call her "Cinderella" instead of Ella, and so she was known as Cinderella from there on out.
One day when Cinderella was on her own out riding her horse, she ran into a very fine young gentleman who just happened to be the prince (Richard Madden) of the land. They exchanged words and found out that they were fond of one another. When they departed they both felt a spark of attraction.
When the prince returned back to the kingdom, he told his father the king (Derek Jacobi) about the young maiden he had met but he never found out who she was.
His father decided it was time to hold a grand ball in the palace to find his son a wife. The prince consented to the grand affair only if he would allow all the young maidens in the land, both nobility and commoners to attend.
When word spread of the grand ball, everyone was anxious to attend, getting beautiful new ball gowns and shoes for the magnificent affair. Cinderella was also very happy and excited to attend, she fixed up her own dress the best she could using an old dress of her mothers.
When Lady Tremaine saw her all dressed up, she dashed her dreams by shredding her dress to rags.
In classic fairy-tale style, Cinderella's wonderful, personal Fairy Godmother (Helena Bonham Carter) magically appears and comes to her rescue to save the day! the rest is, quite simply, a perfect fairytale
Cinderella was just a sheer delight and wonderful escape movie. I thought Lilly James who played Cinderella was a perfect fit. Young, sweet, trusting of others and always remembered the advice of her beloved mother, "to have courage and be kind", to help her get through all of her difficult times.
Cate Blanchett was also perfect as the wicked stepmother. She was delightfully sinister in this classic role, perfectly cast!
Parents be advised: Cinderella is rated PG. I think children over the age of five will be fine with this movie. There is a lot of cute interaction with the mice and some other animals, but there is also some cruelty to Cinderella by the wicked stepmother.
I am giving "Cinderella" four bags of popcorn.
