There is a sneaky sort of rebelliousness in Kenneth Branagh’s Cinderella—in the way it pushes back against the tide of revisionism and misdirected irony that has overtaken family entertainment in recent years. Sincere instead of sarcastic, elegant instead of flashy, and wishing to enchant audiences with charm instead of hypnotizing them with antics, Branagh’s intentions are well-met in this time of forced sarcasm and murky intentions.
Strange, then, that the way he chose to pursue that noble goal was to take out everything that people loved about the original story and put nothing in its place. This isn’t a re-imagining of the folktale, it’s a retread of the 1950 animated film without the songs or heightened drama. We meet Ella (yes, Ella) as a chipper young girl who is unceasingly pleasant and trusting, traits that are nourished by Ella’s mother until she succumbs to illness. Years later, Ella’s father remarries out of loneliness but soon passes away himself, and Ella is now stuck with an awful stepmother and two spoiled stepsisters. Then there’s a prince, a ball, a fairy godmother, a slipper and so on.
In fact, the only surprising thing about the narrative is that there are no surprises. Broken down to its constituent components, there are a few pleasantries to enjoy if you ignore the fact that the movie is one massive padding out of a paper-thin plot. Lily James (“Downton Abbey”) and Richard Madden (“Game of Thrones”) leap off of the small screen to show they have the makings of genuine movie stars. Cate Blanchett sinks her teeth into the part of the wicked stepmother, even if the script doesn’t live up to her performance; in fact, the lack of follow-through on early indications that Blanchett may be the star is one of the film’s biggest letdowns. Scenes between the prince and his father (Derek Jacobi) are nice but go nowhere. Then by the time Helena Bonham Carter shows up as the clumsy fairy godmother who creates creepy lizard-man monstrosities in an excruciatingly long scene, all hope is lost. All she does is not sing the song we all expect (except, annoyingly, as an Easter egg at the end of the credits). The ball and ensuing slipper drama do nothing to regain steam. The film almost works when it stays away from whimsy and sticks with charm, but more than anything, Cinderella is a reminder of why modernist twists on this genre became popular in the first place.
Branagh’s decision not to go revisionist is not altogether surprising given his record for breathing life into well-worn tales. His breakthrough came with his adaptations of Shakespeare, most famously Henry V, Much Ado About Nothing and Hamlet. His take on Frankenstein was refreshing due to his decision to adapt the book directly rather than remake the famous James Whale film for the umpteenth time. Branagh knows how to do familiar; or at least he did, if Thor and Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit are any indication, and this is sadly more in line with these later misfires than his early triumphs.
The film’s lack of apology for its own old-fashioned sensibilities, however, is worthy of defending. Far too often, when a movie is based on a preexisting children’s story, the source material is treated as a liability instead of a wellspring, spending more time apologizing for outdated ideas and techniques while weighing everything down with unnecessary backstory. Modern takes on outdated fairy tales and richer characterizations of well-known villains are all well and good, but as any cynic who has spent five minutes in Disney World will tell you, the magic behind the Mouse empire is very real, so why is everyone always running away from it?
Ideological defenses aside, there’s really no reason to see this movie. Some may enjoy the spectacle and find this review too harsh. Those same people will most certainly be extremely bored on subsequent viewings as its problems become more obvious. Classic Disney and Kenneth Branagh will be back to reclaim their past glory; sadly, this is not the day for either.
Playing this week
American Sniper
Chappie
The DUFF
Fifty Shades of Grey
Focus
Kingsmen: The Secret Service
The Lazarus Effect
McFarland, USA
Run All Night
The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water
Unfinished Business
Regal Stonefield 14 and IMAX
244-3213
