Cinderella

I had the opportunity to go see Cinderella a few weeks ago. Since then, I've been mulling it over in my head and a lot of people have asked me if I was going to write a review, or what I thought of it. But I've been struggling with writing this review.Before going to see it, my parents and sister all weighed in, giving it rave reviews. My dad said he would have been willing to sit in the theater and watch it again immediately, and that he would definitely own it when it came out - high praise, indeed. Since my family is the group of people I trust most when it comes to movies, I went with extremely high expectations. Also, Kenneth Branagh. I love him. He's a good director, and I love the feel of his movies, so again - high expectations.However, upon leaving the theater, my knee-jerk reaction was, "Meh, Ever After was better."Which is why I've been hesitant to write a review. It was a cute movie, it really was. There were things I liked about it. But I just don't feel the ecstatic joy and happiness over this movie that apparently the entire rest of the world seems to.Now, dear Reader, let me give you a caveat. When I went to see the movie, I took Leiana (age 6), Nathalie (age 3), and was with my sister-in-love and her two daughters (ages 9 and 4). So, please understand that for me, much of the movie was spent between trying to keep my children's seats from springing up and collapsing them into their chairs (ah, the woes of not being heavy enough to keep a theater seat weighed down properly), keeping the 3 year old from running off, listening to my 3 year old ask me, "Can we go home now?" on repeat throughout the first half of the movie, rationing out the enormous Sprite I had purchased between my two children so that they would not have to get up and go to the bathroom 27 times during the movie, (succeeding slightly, because they only had to go to the bathroom once during the movie, and they managed to coordinate so they both had to go at the same time, which I considered a win), making sure nobody was eating too much popcorn, and having my three year old fall asleep on my lap in the last half hour of the movie because she had not gotten a proper nap that day... and that was probably the most enjoyable part of the movie for me.With that in mind, I did not feel as though I was actually all that qualified to do a review, because obviously I didn't have a lot of attention left for the movie itself.However, people keep asking. So, here's my two cents: I know I need to see this movie again, when I can focus on it. But here's what I initially came away thinking.This is a very sweet movie. The story is adorable and stays very true to the Disney cartoon you fell in love with when you were a kid. There are differences here and there, which keep it fresh and interesting, but for the most part, it follows the plot of the Disney cartoon almost exactly. One change that I really enjoyed, was that it added a lot to the front half of the movie and introduced us to Cinderella's mother and showed the three of them as a family, which was beautiful and probably my favorite part of the movie.The casting and acting was brilliant. Lily James was a perfect Cinderella, Cate Blanchett did a stellar job as the evil stepmother, Helena Bonham Carter was fabulous as the fairy godmother (she's fabulous in every role she plays, so no surprises there). The entire scene with the fairy godmother was entertaining, humorous, and magical.The effects and the scenery were beautiful. Cinderella's dress was everything it should be, and I want one!A few people have mentioned the low necklines, which, honestly, I didn't notice at all (and usually I do). So I can't comment on that.There was nothing objectionable in the film that I noticed. Quite family-friendly. Like I said, the movie is very sweet.So, where did it fall flat for me?I felt like the development of the story and the characters struggled a lot. Part of this was due to the heavy use of Voice Over to tell the story. I am coming to realize that I really do not like Voice Over as a story-telling technique - I'd rather let the story and characters develop and show me the story, than have some narrator tell me the story.The "Evil Stepsisters" struck me as an extremely bizarre combination of people straight out of The Hunger Games' "Capitol" and the stepsisters from the movie Ella Enchanted. They did not really fit in the movie, and came across as far more silly than villainous, or even truly unkind. Perhaps that was the intent.Cate Blanchett, as I've already mentioned, knocked it out of the park as the Villain of the story, but I felt that she was doing a phenomenal acting job in spite of some very poor script/story and directing. I just wanted more of her story. At her somewhat pivotal moment, when Cinderella asks her "Why" she is so unkind, she replies, "Because you are young and innocent and good, and I -" and she stops. My heart screamed, "And you what???" I, like Cinderella, wanted to know why. Why! And I was very dissatisfied with the reply. I've read Branagh's explanation and justification of this line, but I still feel like it leaves me empty. Were they trying to say she isn't young, innocent, and good? That something had happened to make her that way? That she was upset her first husband died? That she didn't like that her second husband loved his daughter and first wife more than he loved her? That she was hurt that he didn't share in her interests (which apparently involved drinking and having poker nights? Sorry, that was a bit odd to me). I don't know. I just didn't know her well enough to really feel like I understood her motivation.Give me a villain who is really a villain, and if necessary, give them a reason for their villainy, but don't soft-shoe around it as if their villainy is acceptable in some way simply because they were hurt at some point. I don't want my villains justified. I don't mind if they're redeemed, I believe in redemption. But don't try to sell me that their villainous and cruel actions are excusable. (Side note, I think that's why I am so drawn to Once Upon a Time's Rumplestiltskin. Because I badly want to see him make the right choices, I want to see him get a redemption story, a happily ever after, but the show never tries to justify his actions or excuse them when he does evil things). This is why I disliked Maleficent so much, and was a weak point in the movie Cinderella, as well. I feel like Disney is going back to their princess movies and taking out their villains' teeth. Which, for me, also removes most of what is compelling about their heroes.The falling in love after one meeting thing. They tried to follow in Ever After's footsteps with this a little, having the prince and Cinderella meet before the ball, and having more of a conversation during the ball... but still, I felt that it was a rushed courtship compared with the beauty of the more developed relationship of Ever After.The message. Don't get me wrong, it's a good message. "Have courage and be kind." It's beautiful. But it is also battered across the audience's head at every possible moment. It is an oft-repeated mantra, and in the repetition, I feel it loses some of its power.So there you have it, my initial, knee-jerk reaction to the new Cinderella movie. There was a lot I liked about it. There were moments that made me laugh, there were moments that made me tear up a bit. I definitely want to see it again when I'm not so distracted. I think I'll like it better the second time around. I would be willing to own it. I can definitely recommend it. I just didn't fall head over heels in love with it the way I expected to based on the hype around it. To "sum up": Ever After is still the definitive "Cinderella" movie for me.