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Cinderella’ Review: Innovative and Disappointing

The challenging of the original tale and amusing juxtapositions are compensating for the musical choices that didn’t hit their mark in Kay Cannon’s latest film.

By Noémi BlomPublished 2 years ago 3 min read
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image from www.pluggedin.com/movie-reviews/cinderella-2021/

Cinderella

Directed by Kay Cannon

Comedy, Fantasy, Musical, Romance

PG

1h 52m

In yet another retelling of the classic Cinderella narrative, we once again get to follow a young woman with dreams. However, Kay Cannon changed the dream entirely: all Ella (Camila Cabello) wants is to succeed with her dress-making business. She never intends on finding love—it just happens to complicate things.

Although there were many similarities with the original Disney classic—the glass slippers, the mice as her only friends, the evil stepmother (Idina Menzel), and the prince (Nicholas Galitzine)—the movie challenged every single aspect of the narrative. In addition to Ella (“The girl’s name is Ella y’all. Get it right!”) wanting more than just getting out of her tower (or in this case, basement), the stepsisters were not mean, the prince didn’t fall in love with Ella just for her looks (he had a much more complex back story, actually), and the stepmother turned out to be not too evil in the end after all, among so many other things.

Although all those twists were welcomed and enjoyed, those plot changes aren’t the only thing that made this film shine. Cannon played with juxtaposition in so many different ways, most notably having characters in ballgowns and old-time clothing making some of the most contemporary dance moves I’ve ever seen in a musical. Cannon managed to incorporate classic rock, pop, rap, and so many other genres into one film, differentiating it from so many other musicals (if not all of them). But more about music later.

The film’s comedic angle—except for one or two jokes that didn’t land quite well with me—was well accomplished and I did find myself laughing out loud, rather than just smiling at the screen like I usually do. Whether it be Pierce Brosnan’s (King Rowan) cringy singing skills or the stepsisters (and stepmother!) singing “Material Girl” while dancing in front of their sexy farmer neighbour, the movie presented comedy through various levels of subtlety. There were even winks to climate change and current politics. My favourite comedic part? The film was filled with side comments by secondary characters. We rarely see this in movies, but it felt all too familiar: how often have I or my sisters made comments while observing a heated argument between our parents? How often do our friends whisper little sarcastic comments to get a few laughs? As unnatural (but well-executed) as this was in the film, it felt extremely close to home. The only thing comedy-wise that has room for improvement is that the mice (who, rather than being turned into horses, are transformed into James Corden, James Acaster, and Romesh Ranganathan as Ella’s footmen), were only there to create laughs. They didn’t have much importance in the overall plot of the film.

From left to right: Tallulah Greive (Princess Gwen), Minnie Driver (Queen Beatrice), Pierce Brosnan (The King), and Nicholas Galitzine (Prince Robert). Image from www.nydailynews.com

I’m not one who usually enjoys remakes of movies—I often feel as though they are a big waste of money—but all the things listed so far have made it worth it. Still, what I was looking forward to the most was the most disappointing part of all. Don’t get me wrong: Cabello’s singing is phenomenal. Everything else however was… okay. Having heard the song “A Million to One” (which sounded as if it were from The Greatest Showman) as one of the prime songs used in advertising this film, I was upset with it being the only original song in the soundtrack. Furthermore, the songs just started out of nowhere, with no good reason. Yes, it was nice to see the choir, the guards, and the townspeople sing, but the only songs that felt as though they naturally belonged were those in which the town crier (Doc Brown) would rap. The film starts with “Rhythm Nation,” but it is not enough to justify what seems to be randomly chosen songs with awkward timing. And I can’t forget to mention the Pitch Perfect styled medleys, which felt borrowed.

Its questionable musical elements aside, I want to mention how the film was inclusive in almost every single way (ethnicities, body shapes and sizes, gender fluidity, etc.), the only group not represented being the disabled community. The diversity of characters was great on so many levels, but the concept of a world where the only issue is that men are superior to women felt way too simple. Still, the film achieved its goal of sharing the lesson of putting yourself first no matter what, and of not letting yourself be pressured by others.

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About the Creator

Noémi Blom

She/Her

Student @Sheridan College

Honours Bachelor in Creative Writing & Publishing 2023

I love reading, writing stories, giving feedback, and helping other writers with their creative work. Once I graduate, I want to teach, write and edit!

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