Cinderella stuns past Midnight | Movie Review

Drawn by Cloudyarts

The first time I watched Cinderella, I was with a close friend of mine who happens to be a film critic.  As we walked into the cinema, I listened as he speculated about the presentation of the story and voiced his desire to see Branagh’s interpretation come with a clever twist, not unlike that in Robert Stromberg’s Maleficent (2014), which would set it apart from its predecessors. 

Quietly, I hoped that Branagh and his team would stay true to the classic tale that I know and love. The first time I saw the preview with a group of friends it elicited an incredible amount of excitement and ultimately the film, which to my delight, embraced traditionalism, was executed beautifully.

Branagh and the crew created a world with stunning visuals enhanced by spectacular cinematography which drew me inside it from the moment the film began. Perhaps the most breathtaking of these moments, was the scene at the ball, for which the crew must be accredited for creating such a spectacular fairy tale-esque experience with everything from Cinderella’s ball-gown, to the choreography and the elaborate decoration of the ballroom itself.

While each and every member of the cast was spectacular in their roles, namely Lily James who plays Ella and Helena Bonham Carter in her unique take on the part of the Fairy-Godmother, I could not look past Cate Blanchett. She was an ethereal presence throughout the duration of the film, taking my breath away from the moment she entered the screen. Despite this, it was her ability to simultaneously encompass such an astounding and commanding presence in her role as the evil stepmother that made me adore her performance all the more.

Overall, I found Cinderella to be an incredibly pleasing retelling of the traditional tale which encompasses all the wonders of modern filmmaking to create a story which, while it was not intended to be something significantly different from the original, was spectacular nonetheless. 

~Kiki