In this age of revisionist, modernized Disney fairy tales, where we’ve learned that some of our favorite characters really aren’t what they seemed, the striking thing about the studio’s sumptuous new live-action “Cinderella” may not be what it is, but what it isn’t.
It isn’t revisionist. It isn’t modernized. The good guys are still good, the bad still bad. Prince Charming? Still VERY charming, not a “Frozen”-style cad. And the evil stepmother? She’s not, like Angelina Jolie’s Maleficent, merely misunderstood; As embodied by Cate Blanchett, she remains evil to the core. (Though it must be said: Evil has never looked quite so fabulous.)
What “Cinderella” IS, though, is touching, visually stunning, and very satisfying. Director Kenneth Branagh, working with a high-wattage cast led by the winsome and genuine Lily James, sticks to tried-and-true narrative formula, and infuses it with wit and style. If the glass slipper ain’t broke, he seems to be saying, why fix it?
A prologue shows us Cinderella’s childhood, as a little girl named Ella — a lovely thing who’s kind to all, and has a way of communing with animals. She lives in a rambling country home with her loving parents (Hayley Atwell, Ben Chaplin), and all is perfect until, of course, Cinderella’s mother takes ill and dies.