Review: Cinderella (2015)

As anyone who reads this blog will know that I love Disney movies, which is why I couldn't believe its taken me this long to watch the new live action Cinderella, especially as it has Rob Stark in it - swoon! The King in the North, The King in the North!

Who doesn't know the plot for this?  I'll bash it out anyway, just in case!  Ella (Lily James) is the apple of her fathers eye, after her mother (Hayley Atwell) passes away he finds a new wife in the form of Cate Blanchett.  On his travels Ella's father falls ill and passes away also, leaving her in the care of her Step Mother and living with her two 'ugly' sisters (Sophie McShera & Holliday Grainger).  Ella's step family become increasingly demanding, making Ella do all the household chores and any other menial labour they deem necessary until Ella's fairy Godmother (Helena Bonham Carter) makes an appearance to save the day....

Best. Fairy. Godmother. Ever. I was so excited about this and because of that I was worried I may end up disappointed.  Fortunately, I loved it.  I noticed many a comparison to the Disney animated version but obviously slightly tweaked for the live action version.  For example, the mice... you could still work out which one was supposed to be which from the cartoon even with them not able to speak.  They were probably my favourite part! I loved the revamped version of the original 'A Dream is a Wish your Heart Makes' song too.

I was in for this at the mention of Frozen Fever and Richard Madden, so didn't give the actual film a single thought till it began! Actually, I was surprised by how much I enjoyed it.

It actually feels like they have brought one of my favourite childhood films to life (which was all you ever wished for as a child!) and the creation and inevitable destruction of the pumpkin carriage is stunning to watch (although I still can't work out why the shoes didn't disappear - is it because they were made from scratch rather than changed from something else?! Answers on a postcard please!).  Cate Blanchett is an amazing bad guy and stunning to watch on screen, Lily James managed to hold her own but didn't quite channel Cinderella as well as I would have hoped.  The Prince (Richard Madden) - although beautiful - was a bit drippy and not a patch on the animated Charming of Disney's original outing. I'll agree with you on that one for sure, but he was definitely pretty to look at :)

Would happily watch this again and kids would love it.

Looking back on my scribbles I came out of the cinema loving this Cinderalla remake, but I actually kind of forgot about it until I spotted Jenna's post in our drafts list, which makes me a little sad because I really did enjoy it!