Oh! What joy to rekindle all that fairy tale extravaganza and romance this afternoon with Hubby Dearest and Daughter Loveliest!
After a long dry spell of great kid’s movies, Disney’s ‘Cinderella’ comes as a whiff of fresh air. It’s a very simple, straight forward story grandiosely told. I loved the opulent costumes, the ‘minutest-to-the-detail’ setting, the breathtaking cinematography, the dreamy background score and the surreal performances. Cate Blanchett as the evil step-mother was spot-on with her theatrics and my personal pick of the lot. And so was Lily James as the protogonist herself. She embodied every virtue of Ella with élan – dignity, class, confidence, innocence, grace, beauty and yes, of course courage and kindness. Richard Madden, in the part of the royal prince was convincing. He simply oozed charm through those big,stark blue eyes and that warm and wide grin writ all over his face. His nobility couldn’t go unnoticed either with his strong bearing, chivalry and righteous character. He became every bit, yours ever-so-truly ‘Prince Charming’. Together, they make a beautiful, love-struck couple who have you rooting at every juncture, for them and their sparkling romance ever so pure, pristine and genuine.
This movie won me over completely. It is not easy to have an often repeated, done-to-death popular children’s fairy tale as your cherry-pick offering to hold the viewer’s interest. But interest, it sure did manage to retain from the very start to the finale’ moment. And How! By staying as true and close as possible to its original classic fairy tale. It was sheerly delightful and truly magical just like a fairy tale ought to be.
As we walked out of the theatre, all three of us gave the movie a ‘Thumbs Up’. I don’t know if it was just me, but I teared up many a moment when life was cruel on sweet Cinderella. And I smiled and hoped every time life brought her back on the pedestal and put the rainbow in her life via her miniature animal pals, the enigmatic fairy God Mother and of course the handsome and noble, Prince Charming. Sigh!
Here, I was complaining of the lack of great kids’ movies including Disney’s recent disastrous ones. At the risk of bearing my daughter’s brunt, I’m still going to say it. Sorry ‘Frozen’, your princesses didn’t quite make the cut for me personally despite the cult following. It wasn’t really disastrous and had its good points but it wasn’t as great as all that hype. Poof! And, I’m still reeling from the eerily creepy ‘What was that’ dark disastors called ‘Maleficient’ and ‘Into the Woods’. Harry Potter and the likes with links to witch-craft and wizardry is not my idea of children’s fun either. Flirting and breaking on to the other side is never a child’s play. Shudder!
So Disney, here’s a big shout-out and thank you for restoring that old classic Disney charm and class in ‘Cinderella’. Can we have Mowgli breathe new life again and have ‘The Jungle Book’ revived as well? Maybe a rehash of ‘The Sound of Music’. Oh! Maria still makes me laugh and I still dream of Captain Von Trappe (Swoon! Sorry George Clooney! You pale in comparison) gazing deeply into my eyes and singing ‘Edeilweiss’. There are so many tales to be retold to this new generation. Bring on some of that old world charm and magic all over again.
Yes, I do! I believe in fairy tales and happily ever afters!
