Review of Cinderella (2013) by Dragonsfoe . — 02 May 2016

A tale of courage and kindness.

Cinderella is a pleasant surprise. Everything in this film surpasses my expectations. From the talented cast, the production value to the music and direction.

First of all the direction is fantastic. Branagh has a great hold on period pieces, this only gets better with the great cinematography and production value. The pacing is also very good and is a film that really flys by. The world this movie takes play in is marvelously crafted making the viewer immersed in this world. The cast is also great, particularly James and Blanchette who play off wonderfully, the rest of the cast is fine as well. Having not seen the original classic for a while It was translated in a very fresh way. Patrick Doyle is masterful when it comes to his classical scores, he succeeds in every way. This film hits all the right emotional notes and is definitely very well done.

On a less please not side some of the film seems very cartoony especially the annoying cookie cutout stepsisters, who were overdone in a sense. It doesn't really help that everyone already knows what will happen every step of the way, but the film still is a pleasant ride introducing the story to a whole new generation of children, hopefully the following fairy tale films will follow in Branagh's footsteps.

Overall this film is a great example of how to reintroduce and remake a classic, by leaving what everybody loves and adding in liberties respecting the original, any remake would be a success. This film feels like magic, and that's rightfully so.

Rating: 7.9 (B+).