A podcast review of this film is available below:
Kenneth Branagh's new live action version of the Disney's Cinderella is earnest and conventional and assertively traditional. It hews so closely to the original in terms of plot, characterisation, costume and values that I can hardly believe they bothered to spend the money to remake it. The resulting film is sumptuously designed and gorgeous to look at. The costumes are truly Oscar-worthy. The acting is first-rate with Cate Blanchett's wicked stepmother and Helena Bonham-Carter's fairy godmother stealing the show. But as much as I tried to look through the retrograde politics, I just couldn't. That said, this movie has taken so much money, apparently people don't mind that. Maybe Kenneth Branagh is right, and after all those post-modern fairytales there's an appetite for the traditional and unchallenging. But I find it all rather sad.
