Movie Review - Cinderella

We make it to the movie theater only a couple of times a year even though my neighbor owns our local theater and it's only $4 a ticket. It's just one of those things that I keep meaning to do but never find the time. Besides my couch is comfy and I have a large library of movies waiting to be watched. Most of them are bad 80s SF/F movies, but that's beside the point.

Long story short, my hubby and I ran away to the movies and saw Cinderella, the live-action one Disney released a while ago. I'm late to the party, but for what it's worth, here's my take on the movie.

Cinderella is a sweet fairy tale that stays fairly true to it's animated counterpart. It was watchable and entertaining, a solid good movie, but not great. It had a few great moments, like when the stepsister is "singing", but it was mostly like cheap vanilla ice cream - bland and predictable but still good.

All the way through the movie I kept comparing it to other versions of Cinderella. Some of it, namely the stepsisters and stepmother's wardrobes, reminded me very much of the multi-ethnic musical movie version that came out a while back. It was funny but terrible. Of course there were the obvious parallels with the animated movie, which I loved at one time but I guess I've outgrown. But the biggest one I wanted and kept not finding was "Ever After," although at least one scene stole the dialogue and everything from a similar scene in "Ever After."

So, if you're looking for a predictable "safe" princess movie for the kids who want more than animation, this is a good movie. Sweet, likable characters; villains who aren't really that villainous; a cameo appearance by Lucifee, the cat; a nice storyline that isn't too scary or intense—Cinderella has them all.

But if you're looking for a Cinderella movie that takes it up to a whole new level, go find Ever After instead. Angelica Houston's performance in that movie is magnitudes better than the bland version Cate Blanchett dishes out.

Cinderella - B, good for family viewing