First: I realize that this is likely going to sound 'girly' and such, but I am so, so excited! I begrudgingly went and did some clothes shopping this weekend [it's been sorely needed...], and I found the most amazing blue jeans! I know that it sounds trivial, but my new jeans have made me feel 1000% better about myself...now that I can leave the house in something other than legging or yoga pants, I feel like I can be an actual, visible member of society again! So...yay!!
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| Sooooo Pretty! |
impressed!
Cinderella is a story that most of us are very familiar with...since the original version, the story has been done and re-done, wouldn't you say, at least 100 times? That being said, I really didn't hold out much hope for this one...I thought that, at best, it would be the exact same, tired story but with better graphics. And I was wrong! [Better grab a screenshot of that...these sorts of admissions don't happen very often!]
For me, character development is what set this movie apart from all of its predecessors. In the animated classic, we get pretty much just the gist of the fairy tail...at the end of the movie, do we know all that much about the main characters? Not really...we know that the step-mother and step-sisters are terribly cruel, Cinderella is unfalteringly saccharin-sweet, and the prince is pretty much just a handsome face that happens to be next-in-line for the throne. Maybe that's why I never truly loved the animated movie...I never found the characters to be all that relatable [and everyone knows that The Little Mermaid is my favorite!].
I know that different versions of the movie present their own spins on the classic fairy tale, and I know that those movies come with their versions of back-stories for the main characters...but I really liked that this latest re-make of Cinderella fleshed out these characters while maintaining their classic roots.
***SPOILERS AHEAD!!! If you haven't seen the movie yet, turn back now!!***
I really liked that this movie offered a glimpse into Cinderella's life before the evil step-mother. From the animated movie, we know that Cinderella had a loving, doting father that had passed away before the start of the movie. In this movie, we get to see what life was like for the rags-to-riches princess when she was much younger...we learned that Cinderella's real name is actually "Ella," and she learned to maintain her unwavering kindness from her mother [who unfortunately passes away when Ella is still a young child]. One of the more touching details from Ella's childhood is that her mother often sang 'Lavender's Blue,' This song ends up being a recurring musical theme [the music nerd in my loves this sort of thing!] and lends for some teary-eyed moments later in the movie.
I also liked that this movie offered insight into the behavior of the terrible Lady Tremaine, better known and the wicked step-mother. We see when Ella's father hesitantly tells Ella of his plans to start a new chapter of life with Lady Tremaine and her two daughters...he is very obviously still struggling with the loss of Ella's mother and is longing for any chance at regaining happiness. However, minutes after the Tremaines arrive at Ella's house, it becomes very clear that the two families are very different and that merging the two will not be easy.This movie also gave us a peak into the newly 'Brady Bunched' family's lives pre-Ella's father's death. As the two families are struggling to assimilate into one, there are several scenes where you see Ella's father likely regretting his decision [especially in instances where there's interactions between he and Ella] and then we see how these moments affect Lady Tremaine. I can't even imagine...knowing that the competition for your husband's heart is his dead first wife? How can you compete with that? Add to that the husband's daughter that looks and acts just like the wife/mother...you've got to deal with knowing that you'll never be first pick for either the father or the daughter...this takes a toll on Lady Tremaine, and you can see flashes of hurt in her eyes several times in the movie. [I think a great deal of this must be attributed to the excellent acting of Cate Blanchett...she played a fantastic Lady Tremaine!] Now, none of this justifies her terrible behavior later on in the story, not at all...but I think it definitely lends to the statement 'evil isn't born, it's made.' [Once Upon a Time gives us this quote...great show...]
The Prince is another character who we learn more about in this movie. In the animated classic, next to nothing is known about the prince...he's the prince, he's going to choose his bride at the upcoming ball, aaaaaand...he's the prince. [It's been a long time since I've last seen the animated movie, but I think I'm pretty spot on here...]In this movie, the Prince actually has a name! His name is Kit and he ends up being quite the endearing fellow!
Contrary to the animated movie, Ella and Kit meet before the ball...in fact, his chance encounter with Ella is what prompts Kit to extend an invitation to the ball to all eligible maidens in the kingdom rather than strictly the nobility and gentry. I like that this movie adds this little detail...I think it makes it more plausible that the prince would want to invite all maidens. Plus, it also makes a little more sense when he's obviously taken with Ella during the ballroom scenes...they'd met before, had crazy chemistry, and mister princey-prince was seriously jonseing for more Ella time...sounds far more believable than the animated movie. In my opinion anyway...
Plus, we can't ignore the fact that Kit is being played by Richard Madden...also known as the late Robb Stark to us Game of Thrones fans....very glad to see him on the screen, he left us far too early in GoT [darn you, red wedding!!!].
All in all, I give the new Cinderella movie an enthusiastic 'two thumbs up'!
Don't forget, the new Frozen mini-feature is played before the Cinderella movie....I know that the mini-feature alone is enough to get some people into the theater...
Finally: I had no intention of going on about the Cinderella movie for so long! More posts later this week!
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