85% on Rotten Tomatoes
Based on the classic story of a young daughter-turned-servant slaving away at the demands of her evil stepmother and two stepsisters, Kenneth Branagh's Cinderella reimagines this classic fairytale in a magical way.
I'll be honest, I was keen to watch Cinderella but I wasn't expecting it to be super great or anything (after all, it's a Disney film). But I was legitimately so surprised; everything in this film was amazing.
Firstly, let's look at the storyline. Whilst being a classic, Cinderella is known for being a very superficial take on love. It is the ultimate love-at-first-sight story where two people meet for the first time, dance a few times, and fall in love. The prince chases after Cinderella with nothing but a left-behind glass slipper (because he can't remember what she looks like?) even though a number of women could have the same shoe size as her, and marries her the day after. Okay, it's got a pretty shallow morale to it. But this story does an amazing job at adapting the storyline. Not only does it send across greater messages like having courage, being kind to others, and being confident with who you are, but it also handles the mice situation very well (let's be honest, we love Gus Gus but we don't actually want to see a real life fat rat wearing a t-shirt; that's pretty disturbing) and sort of reasons out why the slippers only fit Cinderella. So no longer is it the superficial love story. Instead, it builds up a plausible relationship between Cinderella and her prince, and it also has a great background story to Cinderella's life.
Secondly, the acting was pretty great. Lily James as Cinderella was quite good; she's in Downton Abbey, but I don't watch it so I really did not know what to expect, but I was pleasantly satisfied with her acting. Richard Madden was also pretty good in this; his teeth are perfectly perfect and his eyes are mesmerisingly blue. Helena Bonham Carter was also fantastic as the fairy godmother. I loved the transformation scenes, and the humour that she delivers in them. But the real star is Cate Blanchett (of course). She's always amazing but she's pretty much the star of this film. Her outrageous movements and maniacal laugh are spot on as the evil step mother.
But most impressive of all were the costumes. From the trailer, I already loved the costuming of the evil stepmother, but seeing everything on the big screen was simply amazing. Even Cinderella's dress, which looked only decent in the trailers and posters, was so beautiful here. My favourite scene was the first dance scene, where her dress shimmered so beautifully whenever she spun around.
The other costumes were great too, and pretty much every costume was spot on (except that laughable scene where the evil stepsisters think their dresses are amazing).
IMDb even says: If you pay attention during the ballroom dance scene, you will notice many of the dresses are designed on the dresses of various Disney princesses. You can spot Belle, Tiana, Aurora, Snow White, Mulan and Ariel.
I didn't spot that, but it just gives me another reason to rewatch it.
On a final note, Kenneth Branagh's directing was pretty great; it really paid homage to the classic fairytale movies we all know and love.
In summation, I reckon that if you are into Disney, or if you wanted to watch this but were tossing up between watching it in the cinemas or at home, I would say this NEEDS to be seen in the cinemas! If anything, just for the costuming.
If you're not that into the idea of Cinderella, I still would recommend trying it out; it's stands great just as a film itself, and it pleasantly surprises you.
A few side notes:
No Tomatometer score yet on Rotten Tomatoes
Just quickly, I'll discuss Frozen Fever. Yes, that's right. Frozen Fever. A mini sequel to Frozen.
It's the short animation that plays ahead of Cinderella, so I might as well give a short review on it.
I was not a big fan of Frozen anyway, but this wasn't that great for me. I also do not really like the idea of them riding the "Frozen" fever out so much that they're even titling their short sequel "Frozen Fever".
The premise is that Elsa is trying to throw the perfect birthday party for Anna, since she feels bad for being the reason Anna's always had bad birthdays, but she starts getting a cold (or fever), and every time she sneezes, these mini snowmen appear and start to wreak havoc at the party.
There's an original song that's sung to help move the narrative along, mainly by Elsa, but it just wasn't that great. Just because you had a hit with "Let It Go" doesn't mean that the next song you get Idina Menzel to sing would be great.
So in the end, it's alright and it's entertaining but I think they were trying too hard with it and to be honest, Disney just needs to... let it go...
(Bad and unoriginal joke sorry (not sorry))
(Also lol'd at the ladies next to us who asked us whether it was the right cinemas for Cinderella, since they got confused when Frozen Fever started playing)
50% on Rotten Tomatoes
Our good friend Ben Stiller is back again as Larry Daley, the security guard at the American Museum of Natural History. The issue this time is that something is causing the deterioration of the tablet's magical powers, threatening the museum's exhibitions' abilities to remain awake and fully functioning. As a result, Larry and the gang need to take a trip to the British Museum to save the museum's fate.
Let's be honest, I can't believe there's a third installment to this franchise (I'm still cringing at Amy Adams' portrayal of Amelia Earhart). Nonetheless, it was still entertaining. It's still got a lot of the same jokes (I say that like it's a bad thing, but the running joke on Jed and Octavius' smallness never fails to make me laugh), but at least the British Museum gives the film a chance in bringing a few more fresh things in. Rebel Wilson was also a good addition; she's hilarious in everything and I love her humour. Ricky Gervais is also pretty funny in this, as always (by the way, have you seen his Optus ad for Netflix? It's hilarious).
The running gag on the new caveman was quite overdone, but to the point where it actually started being a bit funny (once you realise that it is, after all, Night at the Museum THREE, and you should just let it slide since you knew what you were getting yourself into).
So overall, it's good entertainment for when you're bored.
(I will say though, that it was quite sad to see Robin Williams in his last film here. Rest in peace.)
91% on Rotten Tomatoes
Loosely based on a true story, The Sapphires focuses on an all-indigenous girl group singing to inspire the troops in Vietnam during the war.
I watched it a while back so I can't really remember much of it, but it was actually pretty decent.
The indigenous actors were pretty good, and Jessica Mauboy was also surprisingly pretty great in this.
The humour is quite funny, and the good ole Aussie accent helps carry this along.
The storyline is decent; it not only takes you through the journey of this girl group and the emotional turmoils that the war brings on them, but it also touches on racism in Australia.
I think they changed a lot from the original story of the girl group, but it was still quite interesting, and overall an enjoyable watch if you like hearing people sing and if you're bored.
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