Right now Disney's current trend with their live-action films has been a series of live-action re-imaginings of their animated classics. Obviously this has proved to be a rather polarizing tactic amongst certain fans, namely because they believe that these are intended to replace the original films. Well I can assure you that this ain't the intention. You see the internet has this mentality about remakes that they're supposed to replace the original when that's not the case. Hell, even if they don't end up being very good, the original is not tainted in any way. And that's been the case with Disney's live- action remakes, even the ones that haven't been well-received like the 'Alice' films and 'Maleficent'.
'Cinderella', however, was the first of these remakes to actually be well-received by critics and rightfully so as it truly is a beautiful new adaptation of the story that Disney first told in their 1950 animated classic. The original 'Cinderella' is easily one of my all-time favorites when it comes to Disney's animated films so I was really excited to see this new version and I absolutely loved it. Sure it's basically just the same story as the original but it manages to update it by doing some things better than the original. Namely, the relationship between Ella and the Prince in this version is much more developed compared to the original where they immediately fall in love and only share a few scenes together. Lily James is absolutely fantastic in the role of Ella while Richard Madden proves to be, for lack of a better term, a very charming Prince Charming. Of course the rest of the cast is fantastic as well, from Cate Blanchett's excellent take on Lady Tremaine to Helena Bonham Carter's scene-stealing turn as the Fairy Godmother.
But like the original, the film has gotten some flak from feminists over its title character, Cinderella. The argument is that the character is too passive of a protagonist who only sits around waiting to be rescued. Now this is an argument I've never really agreed with. Sure Cinderella doesn't really do as much compared to some future Disney princesses but there's more to her than that. She really deserves credit for being able to put up with all of the crap she gets thrown her way by her evil stepmother and stepsisters. The film very much maintains the theme of encouraging people to 'have courage and be kind'. And let's face it folks... those are good words to live by in today's age.
Like I said before, these Disney remakes aren't replacing the originals. They're just here to serve as interesting new takes on their original source material. And as much I know I'm going to get a lot of flak for this by those who are opposed to the remakes... I think this new Cinderella is better than the original. Don't get me wrong the original is still an animated masterpiece but as a whole I feel that Kenneth Branagh delivered a fantastic adaptation that both reflects the original while also being its own thing.
'Cinderella', however, was the first of these remakes to actually be well-received by critics and rightfully so as it truly is a beautiful new adaptation of the story that Disney first told in their 1950 animated classic. The original 'Cinderella' is easily one of my all-time favorites when it comes to Disney's animated films so I was really excited to see this new version and I absolutely loved it. Sure it's basically just the same story as the original but it manages to update it by doing some things better than the original. Namely, the relationship between Ella and the Prince in this version is much more developed compared to the original where they immediately fall in love and only share a few scenes together. Lily James is absolutely fantastic in the role of Ella while Richard Madden proves to be, for lack of a better term, a very charming Prince Charming. Of course the rest of the cast is fantastic as well, from Cate Blanchett's excellent take on Lady Tremaine to Helena Bonham Carter's scene-stealing turn as the Fairy Godmother.
But like the original, the film has gotten some flak from feminists over its title character, Cinderella. The argument is that the character is too passive of a protagonist who only sits around waiting to be rescued. Now this is an argument I've never really agreed with. Sure Cinderella doesn't really do as much compared to some future Disney princesses but there's more to her than that. She really deserves credit for being able to put up with all of the crap she gets thrown her way by her evil stepmother and stepsisters. The film very much maintains the theme of encouraging people to 'have courage and be kind'. And let's face it folks... those are good words to live by in today's age.
Like I said before, these Disney remakes aren't replacing the originals. They're just here to serve as interesting new takes on their original source material. And as much I know I'm going to get a lot of flak for this by those who are opposed to the remakes... I think this new Cinderella is better than the original. Don't get me wrong the original is still an animated masterpiece but as a whole I feel that Kenneth Branagh delivered a fantastic adaptation that both reflects the original while also being its own thing.