"Cinderella" AND "Frozen Fever" Review.

Queens and Kings, Princes, and Princess, today I will be Bibbidi-bobbidi-blogging my review for the live-action Cinderella film, directed by Kenneth Branagh! Oh, doesn’t it sound so magical? (totally not sarcasm). The movie was twice as magical for me because Cate Blanchett was in the film! Oh, what a lovely evil step-mother she made! 

Before I get into Cinderella, I’m just going to give a quick review for the short, Frozen Fever.

Frozen Fever Quick Review: 1.5 out of 5 stars

Frozen has taken over the world and this short has given me frostbite. I truly enjoyed the movie Frozen, but the hype has gotten so big, I’m getting tired of it. I was fine with a Frozen short, but watching it made me want to shiver. The song was just unbearable; it was horrible. I wasn’t really feeling it at all. Of course, I did have my moments of chuckling with the little snowmen she sneezed up and how they tried to go after the cake, which made me gives it the .5 for the review. The solid 1 for the rating, however is because they showed Hans getting crushed by a snowball which made me laugh hysterically. But other than that, it wasn’t that big of a deal. Nothing exciting to see. Those the outfit designs for Else and Ana were so pretty though! (chuckles)

Cinderella Quick Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars

I admire the background story of Ella and how she became “Cinderella”. Also, I approve of the cast that was chosen for they did extremely well and projected the original characters from the animated film with justice yet added their own little flavor. The connections between most characters were more realistic as well (will be more detailed in the full review in the plot section). However, there was an important scene that I felt were quite rushed and wasn’t executed properly to their full extent. The film, overall was just average and didn’t leave me in awe, though I still enjoyed it. The film was…nice.

Cinderella Long Review: 

****SPOILERS ARE BELOW****

Plot

The plot for this live-action Cinderella film is pretty much the same as the animated cartoon, except this provides more of a background story which includes her relationship with her parents before they passed away. Her mother was definitely a kid at heart and told Ella (before her stepsisters named her “Cinderella”), to “have courage and be kind”. Cinderella showed a lot of courage and strength in this film and she even stood up for herself at the end to her Stepmother.

 I also liked how Cinderella and Kit (The Prince) met BEFORE the actual ball happened. In Disney's animated version, it was love at first sight when Cinderella went to the ball. But in this current version, they meet for the first time out in the woods and he conceals his title of being a Prince, which I thought was very meaningful. They talked and had a conversation first and enjoyed their company and at the end Cinderella tells Kit, that if the shoe fits, that she hopes that he would take her as she is, even though she was not of nobility. It definitely shows that titles and appearances aren't everything. 

Actors/Characters

Cinderella - Lily James:  I can't think of anyone else who could have stepped in the shoes of the daydreamer, Cinderella. I already love this actress in the show, Downton Abbey, so when I heard that she was going to play Cinderella, I was excited for her. She's beautiful and gives off that soft spoken and big hearted personality. 

Stepmother/Lady Tremaine - Cate Blanchett: The only reason why I wanted to see this film! Cate is my favorite actress! She was on point as the wicked Stepmother and there were times when I was intimidated by her wickedness. Cate would just give a certain look and you could tell that she was up to no good. There was so much tension when she entered a scene; she was so threatening. She was perfection! 

Prince/Kit - Richard Madden: I fell in love with Richard Madden as Rob Stark in the HBO series, Game of Thrones, and my oh my, what a wonderful Prince he was in Disney's Cinderella. He was so charming and handsome it made my heart melt; especially when he smiled and the way he looked at Cinderella. Richard did a good job taking on this role. 

The Fairy Godmother - Helena Bonham Carter: When people here about Helena Bonham Carter, they imagine her as a gothic/dark character (most of the time I do). To see her play this uplifting, spunky fairy godmother, I was blown away! She gave a magical performance and it was lovely seeing her play such a bright character. It was refreshing! 

Anastasia & Drisella - Holliday Grainger & Sophie McShera: I would just like to state that Sophie McSherea also plays in the show Downton Abbey, and to see her go from this sweet maid to this spoiled, whining, stepsister was really shocking, but in a great way! It definitely shows she has talent! She and Holliday Grainger worked well together as the evil stepsisters and I laughed at how silly they were and they were so animated. 

Grand Duke - Stellan Skarsgård: I laughed when I saw Stellan appeared in this film. Not in a bad way, but as a shocker. But him playing the Grand Duke, was a good choice and having him play alongside of the stepmother (Cate Blanchett) worked wonderfully well, in the end when they were making a deal with one another. 

I can satisfyingly say that the actors chosen for these role were magnificent choices and they did an outstanding job! 

Costume Design

I'd have to say the film's greatest strength was the costume design by Sandy Powell! I loved all of the outfits that the characters wore! They were so vibrant and beautiful, keeping a realistic style to its time with the touch of magic for this fairytale story. Watching Cinderella's mother's pink dress transform into the lovely blue was absolutely beautiful with the detail of butterflies on the dress and on the shoes! It was absolutely fabulous! The transformation and the look on her face made me feel the amazement in the magic. It was breath-taking for me and it made me wonder how I'd look in that dress! One day if I every wear such a beautiful design I'm going to twirl as if I were really going to a royal ball.

The costume design for the stepmother fit her well, and most times I noticed she wore green, and I felt it was a symbolism for envy because she showed and even revealed that she envied Cinderella so much throughout the film. Sandy Powell portrayed Lady Tremaine's envious personality extremely well within the costume. The bright colors of the costume for Anastasia and Drisella were perfect and it matched their personalities as well. Just absolutely wonderful. 

Oh and Cinderella's Wedding dress? I fell in love with the dress because it was different and wasn't your traditional white dress with white lacing or white design. There was color in it and it was a dress that was made for Cinderella; for this fairytale. The veil was so lovely how it floated in the breeze when she walked and it brought out my romantic side. I'm really not into the whole wedding thing but just seeing the dress made me want to start planning for my future wedding day. 

Overall, the costumes were so well designed and detailed from the main characters to the extras within the film at the Royal ball. I applaud you, Sandy Powell! 

Digital Effects – Fairy Godmother Scene

Of course this was the main scene that I was excited for (and I'm sure plenty of others were too), the moment when Cinderella is rescued by her Fairy Godmother and the fun of transforming animals into humans and the pumpkin into a carriage. Helena Bonham Carter, who played the Fairy Godmother was great! She portrayed the spunky, fast talking, fairy godmother at best. Though, I was a bit shocked of how rushed this scene was. I felt like we should have lingered more on this scene. For the most part, I will say that there were moments of chuckling for me and I was glad she at least said the words [i]bibbidi-bobbidi-boo![/i] 

When she transformed the pumpkin to the carriage, it was just so average and I didn't feel the magic at all. It was so bland to me. The effects didn't do justice. Don't get me wrong, the design of the pumpkin carriage was beautiful yet it wasn't amazing in live-action as it should have been. 

As for the animal transformation into humans, it was cute. That's it...just cute. Maybe that's all that matters, but this scene happened too quick for me. 

The Music

The Score: The score, by Patrick Doyle, was just okay. I liked maybe three or for musical scores from the movie but it's not worth getting exciting for (purchasing wise), but it fit the movie with perfection. 

The Songs: This was one of my main issues with this movie. I went in knowing that this wasn't going to be a musical. And I was satisfied with the fact that they had Cinderella/Lily James sing a small portion of "Sweet Nightingale" while she was doing chores. 

Then, the song that her mother sung to her and she sung it again when she looked out the window is NOT on the album which bothers me because I really liked that song. I have no idea what's it's called, or what to look for. What's up with that?

Although, I expected to at least here a hint of the songs from the original animated film, play within the score if it were not going to be sung. For example, during the royal ball, when Kit and Ella were dancing and when the music started, I was listening for the orchestra to at least play "So This is Love" in the background, yet it did not happen. I think it would have added that extra spark. Even if they hinted it just for a moment, it would have been great. 

During the film, as I said, I knew there wasn't going to be singing, though as I stayed during the rolling of the credits, they played the soundtrack for the film and two songs from the animated film: 

• The first song was "A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes" and it was sung by Lily James (The actress that plays Cinderella), and it sounded beautiful. But looking back and I don't see a good placement for her to sing the song, unless they made it part of the score. 

• The second song was "Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo" which was sung by Helena Bonham Carter, who plays The Fairygodmother. When I heard this song during the credits, I said to myself, THIS is what would have made her scene feel less rushed and more magical. They should have had her sing it! She could have hummed it! Sure, she said the magic words, but that wasn't enough for that scene. Patrick Doyle could have at least incorporated the song within the score if she wasn't going to sing it. Gosh darn it, Disney!

Overall, this film was nice to watch in Live-Action. Was it anything special? No, not really. But, can we just appreciate the fabulous Cate Blanchett as the Evil Stepmother, though? 

I mean...come on....look at how good she looks, yet...how evil! That look in her eyes, though! Cate, girl, do your thing! You put the "step" in stepmother!