Cinderella 2015

Kinda felt like this really could have done with more singing in it. Is it weird that I associate most Disney Princess movies with singing now?

So Cinderella is a remake of the old classic. I haven't watched the old Cinderella yet but this isn't quite what I was expecting from Disney. 

Granted, the film is incredibly PG but it is also incredibly boring. This might have something to do with the fact that Cinderella really really lacks much of a personality beyond 'be kind', which was one of the last pieces of advice her mom gave her. That and be brave but I didn't really see much in terms of bravery with Cinderella. 

In fact, most of the cast lack much of a personality except the evil stepmother, who is very clearly evil. But there are moments when you sorta, kinda feel sorry for her because while she married Cinderellas dad, it's also very obvious that Cinderella's dad doesn't care very much for her, which makes you wonder why they even bothered getting married anyway. But anyway, her sheer evilness sorta washes away any good feelings you might have for her. 

One of my main problems with Cinderella is really her sheer passivity in the movie. Spoiler below




So at the end of the movie, she gets locked up in the attic while the prince goes from home to home, trying to find the woman whose feet fits the glass shoe. The prince arrives at her home, and instead of trying to attract his attention or anything, she just continues singing. She doesn't even OPEN the frigging window that's right next to her and unlocked. Instead, the mice have to open it for her to try and help her; which causes the Prince to hear her voice and then boom, happy ending. Which is pretty much the whole movie. She just lucks into most of her good fortune and the most active thing she does in the entire movie is sewing a dress to go to the ball. 

I mean, the direction is decent, the visual effects are decent but there is just no life to this film. There is no energy and there's really nothing spectacular about it. I've liked most of the Disney Princess films, having watched most of them as a child, and they've usually had energy and a sense of wonder to this. There's really none of that for Cinderella. 

Overall, this movie was very very very mediocre. I can't really say I would want to watch it again, having felt that the whole film was rather bland. Otoh, it was still better than Maleficent.