Disney to bring Cinderella back in live action

[Pink Ranger]

I'm not a big fan of live action musicals. I was super happy the film wasn't a musical to be honest.

"But Spidey, why don't you like musicals?"

"Well, it's hard to explain. Let me put it like this ..."

**ORCHESTRA STARTS SWELLING, SPIDEY LAUNCHES INTO HER SOLO NUMBER "WHY I HATE MUSICALS" (MUSIC AND LYRICS BY STEPHEN SCHWARTZ).

 

[DarthSkywalker]

"But Spidey, why don't you like musicals?"

"Well, it's hard to explain. Let me put it like this ..."

**ORCHESTRA STARTS SWELLING, SPIDEY LAUNCHES INTO HER SOLO NUMBER "WHY I HATE MUSICALS" (MUSIC AND LYRICS BY STEPHEN SCHWARTZ).

 

[I SEE SPIDEY]

I agree with Robert Redford's nod.

 

[DarthSkywalker]

I agree with Robert Reford's nod.

Always a wise decision.

 

[Zant]

I am surprised by the budget. Its a good thing Disney are not overspending as much as they used too.They are still having nightmares about Prince of Persia, John Carter and Lone Ranger I'm sure. I hope Tomorrow Land cost less than 200 mill. It looks great but not sure about it breaking out.

 

[Loki882]

It'll be interesting to see how much that live action Beauty and the Beast movie that they're doing costs, or Tim Burton's Dumbo (shudders). BTW Hayley Atwell's appearance was a nice surprise. I honestly didn't know that she was going to be in this movie beforehand.

 

[Loki882]

Just saw this, such a charming film. Blanchett was awesome as expected, as was Carter (though I expected her to have more than one scene). I've never seen Lily James before and while I did feel like she was a bit over-the-top with her mannerisms, she was otherwise quite good in the lead. Richard Madden still doesn't do anything for me, but he made for a decent Prince Charming I suppose. There were also fewer distracting camera angles than I've come to expect from Branagh, lol.

Overall, a wonderfully traditional re-telling of a classic. 8/10.

EDIT: I just found out I left to soon and missed this song in the end credits:



Kinda makes me wish they would have done the musical version.

Well Prince Charming is barely even a character in the original either, he's dull as dishwater, and he doesn't actually DO anything. So maybe Madden's performance is appropriate in that regard (I didn't mind him personally).

 

[Primal Slayer]

Now this is how Disney needs to be adapting their animated movies! The film knew what it was, it embraced it, it expanded on it, all around I loved it.

 

[terry78]

Cinderella was never known for it's spectacle aside from the fairy godmother sequence and the animal chats. Beauty and the Beast is gonna have talking objects, a possibly mo-cap/makeup based Beast, and a final battle in the castle if they adhere to the cartoon.

 

[mclay18]

"But Spidey, why don't you like musicals?"

"Well, it's hard to explain. Let me put it like this ..."

**ORCHESTRA STARTS SWELLING, SPIDEY LAUNCHES INTO HER SOLO NUMBER "WHY I HATE MUSICALS" (MUSIC AND LYRICS BY STEPHEN SCHWARTZ).

Shouldn't it read "Music and Lyrics by Robert Lopez and Kristen Anderson-Lopez"? They're the in-demand songwriters for Disney now...

 

[Pink Ranger]

Shouldn't it read "Music and Lyrics by Robert Lopez and Kristen Anderson-Lopez"? They're the in-demand songwriters for Disney now...

The Lopezes are who you call when Stephen Schwartz is busy.

 

[Sawyer]

The Lopezes are who you call when Stephen Schwartz is busy.

 

[terry78]

If they weren't black it'd be uncanny.

 

[Pink Ranger]

If they weren't black it'd be uncanny.

I've only been pretending to be Asian.

 

[Sawyer]

I've only been pretending to be Asian.

I knew it.

 

[flickchick85]

Well Prince Charming is barely even a character in the original either, he's dull as dishwater, and he doesn't actually DO anything. So maybe Madden's performance is appropriate in that regard (I didn't mind him personally).

I don't disagree, and I didn't mind him, either. He just didn't exactly have me swooning is all, lol.

 

[mclay18]

I don't disagree, and I didn't mind him, either. He just didn't exactly have me swooning is all, lol.

He needed some facial scruff to add that swoon factor, but that might give viewers deja vu from "Game of Thrones".

It's a very enjoyable movie. I think folks can fuss about the feminist angle (or lack thereof), but this film is pure escapism. It complements the more contemporary Ever After -- the 2015 film is a more faithful telling of the story while the 1998 film takes a non-magical feminist approach.

 

[Matt Mortem]

I really liked what they did with it. I wrote a review for it.

http://thefilmbox.org/reviews/cinderella/

 

[flickchick85]

I think folks can fuss about the feminist angle (or lack thereof), but this film is pure escapism. It complements the more contemporary Ever After -- the 2015 film is a more faithful telling of the story while the 1998 film takes a non-magical feminist approach.

The feminist criticism of this version of the story feels like reaching to me. I saw it as a story about a character whose inherent goodness is constantly pushed and tested but who stays firm in her convictions (yeah yeah, courage and kindness) and displays tremendous strength and optimism in the face of constant, unwavering abuse. And she was always able to see past her own miserable situation to look out for those around her, too. That's not a weak character to me.

It's not like she was waiting around hoping for the prince to come rescue her, either. Hell, even when she desperately wanted to go out to the ball and see him, she had no clue he was a prince, or even a potential husband, really. She just wanted a brief escape from that awful home life for a social engagement with someone she met and connected with once. Basically, the girl just wanted a night out for some socializing, lol.

And yes, she is ultimately "rescued" from that life by marrying the king, but that happened to her directly because of who she was and her strength of spirit. I thought it was a really nice touch how the prince took on her mantra/philosophy as his own, subsequently convincing his father that he was finally fit to run his own kingdom (and life), thus compelling his father to give his blessing to marry for love. I think the main message young people would get from this film is that if you are a relentlessly good person then good things can happen to you. And I don't think that's a terrible message to send out at all.

It kind of bothers me that the only strong female characters that get praised in movies are the "ass-kicking" types, like the Ever After version of this character (which I also love) who fights back at every opportunity. For some people trapped or born into horrible circumstances, "fighting back" in the traditional sense is not a realistic option. THIS version of Cinderella displayed a much more subtle kind of strength - the ability to make the best of the situation she's been dealt, with pure resilience, courage, kindness and optimism, always looking for ways to improve it. She's able to find her own happiness while trapped in a circumstance in which many of us could not. I don't see how that makes for a bad role model.

 

[mclay18]

^

You ought to send that post to MaryAnn Johanson. I have great respect for her as a film critic, but she needs to see some stories from a different perspective (or at least try to). Her review for "Cinderella" wasn't negative, per se, apart from complaining about it being a toy commercial and how passive Cinderella is.

 

[flickchick85]

^

You ought to send that post to MaryAnn Johanson. I have great respect for her as a film critic, but she needs to see some stories from a different perspective (or at least try to). Her review for "Cinderella" wasn't negative, per se, apart from complaining about it being a toy commercial and how passive Cinderella is.

I feel like that's par for the course with Disney princess stories, and a lot of the time the criticism is on point. But I feel like they tweaked just enough of this story to make it work and people are just quick to jump on it because of the broad strokes everyone knows.

 

[terry78]

Women, amirite?

 

[Quasimod0]

I saw this today. I actually really enjoyed it! I liked how sweet it was without any cynicism. My mom and sister LOVED it.
8.5/10

 

[Silvermoon]

Me and my mom went and saw this film this morning and I really really enjoyed it. I think everyone was well cast. Loved Blanchett as the stepmother. Loved Carter as the FGM, and I thought Lily and Richard both did an wonderful job as Cinderella and Kit. I loved the animals and (even though they didn't really 'talk' (at least in human words) they still had their own personalities and I loved the way they were adapted here in a live action film.

It was just a really charming movie and I loved the message of it. There were also some really lovely visuals. The locations looked wonderful, everything appearing so detailed. I thought the dress was an amazing translation of the dress from the animated film (though part of me wonders how many times Richard accidentally stepped on it while filming the dancing scenes *lol*) - one visual that really stuck with me and wanted to call out specifically was...

Spoiler

when the King is dying and it turns into the overhead shot of him on the bed and Kit is just curled up next. I mean....taking your prince and showing him as (essentially) really just a vulnerable little boy who's losing his father I think was kind of a bold move and just really well done. I loved that shot - and it appropriately tugged at my heartstrings

I think Branagh did a great job with this and I can't wait to add this to our Disney collection. I also loved that they had Lily and Carter singing two of the songs from the animated feature during the credits. It was a welcome little treat (for those of us that stayed).

I also loved that for (at least) the last third or so of the movie....every child in the audience, not a peep from them (no whining, no asking questions to mom or dad about what was going on), they were just enthralled.

The feminist criticism of this version of the story feels like reaching to me. I saw it as a story about a character whose inherent goodness is constantly pushed and tested but who stays firm in her convictions (yeah yeah, courage and kindness) and displays tremendous strength and optimism in the face of constant, unwavering abuse. And she was always able to see past her own miserable situation to look out for those around her, too. That's not a weak character to me.

It's not like she was waiting around hoping for the prince to come rescue her, either. Hell, even when she desperately wanted to go out to the ball and see him, she had no clue he was a prince, or even a potential husband, really. She just wanted a brief escape from that awful home life for a social engagement with someone she met and connected with once. Basically, the girl just wanted a night out for some socializing, lol.

And yes, she is ultimately "rescued" from that life by marrying the king, but that happened to her directly because of who she was and her strength of spirit. I thought it was a really nice touch how the prince took on her mantra/philosophy as his own, subsequently convincing his father that he was finally fit to run his own kingdom (and life), thus compelling his father to give his blessing to marry for love. I think the main message young people would get from this film is that if you are a relentlessly good person then good things can happen to you. And I don't think that's a terrible message to send out at all.

It kind of bothers me that the only strong female characters that get praised in movies are the "ass-kicking" types, like the Ever After version of this character (which I also love) who fights back at every opportunity. For some people trapped or born into horrible circumstances, "fighting back" in the traditional sense is not a realistic option. THIS version of Cinderella displayed a much more subtle kind of strength - the ability to make the best of the situation she's been dealt, with pure resilience, courage, kindness and optimism, always looking for ways to improve it. She's able to find her own happiness while trapped in a circumstance in which many of us could not. I don't see how that makes for a bad role model.

 

[Silvermoth]

Oh my gosh I just got back from seeing this movie. It was brilliant, probably expecting it to be the best film I'll see this years (besides age of Ultron).

I adored whoever played Cinderella. She was so sweet but I understood her strength as well. Plus the prince was crazy hot. Cate of course is always great. So great that the audience got so into it! When cate yelled "I am her mother" I actually heard a lady scoff loudly. Before that I heard someone calling her a ***** to the screen. It's lucky the real care Blanchett wasn't there, she might have gotten beaten up!

Plus those sumptious clothes! So beautiful! I love a good period piece and this ticked all the boxes.

Gosh I would love to see a gay version of Cinderella one day. Just the idea of someone who gets treated like s**t every day of their lives and then for one night goes to a romantic ball and meets a prince and they dance in front of everyone and everyone is shocked at first but they get it because it's so romantic and maybe please a happy ending just like Cinderella? I would love that so much