I saw this nine days ago and I've been meaning to share a review.
First things first - I predicted that I would like this film. The story of Cinderella is such a timeless and captivating one that you'd have to really do something wrong to mess it up. Kenneth Brannagh as director intrigued me prior to the release, and he has done a very good job. The film is certainly traditionalist, but that's not a criticism. Given the amount of revisionist live-action fairy tale adaptations from Hollywood the past couple of years, it ironically was a breath of fresh air to see a live-action fairy tale film that didn't try and pull the "so you think you know the story" trope like
Maleficent.
In all honesty, the classic fairy tales don't need to necessarily be drastically altered. They are timeless yet aren't meant to be taken literally and can be (and indeed have been) interpreted in many different ways as society has changed and responded to different crises. To use another story as an example, I imagine "Hansel and Gretel" would have appealed to peasants who wanted to hear stories of their kind beating a richer, stronger oppressor (the witch being perhaps a metaphor for the greedy nobility) while in today's economic climate, the picture of a patchwork family in dire financial straits would be particularly meaningful. For all its traditionalism, I'd say that the film's message of staying positive in a world beset by problems is a very poignant one for today's society.
I liked the dimension given to the stepmother and the fact that how she has so poorly dealt with grief has made her so cynical and vicious while Cinderella, with her upbeat mantra "have courage and be kind", makes her such a positive, likeable character who manages to influence the people despite her humble origins. In fact, this makes the character of Cinderella herself more powerful. Indeed, the character of Cinderella isn't particularly active but pacifistic, quietly confident characters makes her more appealing and powerful in a roundabout way. In fact, the only moment that annoyed me about her character was the moment
when they the stepsisters were trying on the slipper downstairs while Cinderella was singing while locked in the attic. The mice went and opened the window, but it would have perhaps been more apt if Cinderella had casually done that herself, even if she were unaware that she was drawing attention to herself. In any case, both Cate Blanchett and Lily James provide stellar performances.
I also liked the prince's increased role. Prince Charming characters can be quite dull or can be made a bit too goofy; this Prince Charming was a contemporary, human character. It helped that he was played by Richard Madden.
The costumes and sets were brilliant as well - a nice mix of British costume drama, Victoriana, Hapsburg Vienna and Golden Age illustration. There were some minor quibbles I had - the opening scenes just prior to Cinderella's mother's death were a bit too sweet, the Fairy Godmother being a bit too goofy (despite a good performance by Helena Bonham Carter), the moment alluded to in the spoilers. However, they didn't ruin the film by any means.
Another thing I liked was how it mixed the basic plot of Charles Perrault's version of the story while retaining some of the best aspects from the 1950 version (the mice being Cinderella's friends, the dress-ripping scene etc) plus some things from the Brothers Grimm version of the story (the mother's deathbed scene, Cinderella asking for a branch as a token of her father's journey etc). One thing that really grated me, though, was how the source material was credited; I can't remember the exact wording, but it was something like "based on Charles Perrault's story and Disney's Cinderella property". The latter part sounded so clinical; even "Walt Disney's Cinderella" would have been a better way of wording it.
I think it would be hard for me to compare it with other versions of the story as I've seen quite a few, but the majority of them I haven't seen in years (such as
The Slipper and the Rose, which I recall as being quite twee) while some I haven't seen all the way through (such as the charming - from what I saw, anyway - Czech/East German film
Three Hazelnuts for Cinderella). I would rank it above
Ever After; I do like that film (especially Angelica Houston's delightfully wicked stepmother) but I think it does try a bit too hard to be simultaneously historically accurate and contemporary at times. I still don't know whether to place it above the 1950 version; part of me thinks I should, part of me thinks I shouldn't, so I'll make it a tie. If I had to compare it to the other live-action fantasy/fairy tale films made by Disney recently (
Alice in Wonderland, Oz: the Great and Powerful, Maleficent), I would say that it's probably the best. If we were to add
Into the Woods into that mix, I'd say it would probably tie with that in my opinion.
As for
Frozen Fever, as much as I adored
Frozen, I thought it was fairly fun but a bit unsubstantial, like a quaint picture book spin-off from the film somehow made into an all-singing, all-dancing cinematic experience.
)….apparently everyone is differently opinionated, so no one is right or wrong 
... I noticed during the second time watching it that, when Ella was locked up, the fairy godmother indeed said: Ella had no idea of what was happening downstairs, nor did she care…..
And I'm glad you saw it a second time!
