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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

James shines in live-action ‘Cinderella’

Dan Webster

After finally getting around to seeing the new mostly live-action "Cinderella," I had a mixed reaction. Following is a transcription of the review that i wrote for Spokane Public Radio:

Beginning in 1937, when the animated feature “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” opened on theatrical screens four days before Christmas, The Walt Disney Studios showed they understood what it takes to make cartoons palatable to all audiences.

Just add in some cute creatures for kids, some action and romance for teens and a sense of classical drama – and a few adult jokes – for the grown-ups. The main differences these days from classic Disney involve the animated visuals, which depend mostly on Computer Graphics, and the comic asides: obvious fart jokes for younger viewers and more off-color jokes for their elders – the latter usually told fast enough that the kids don’t notice. We hope.

Oh, and sometimes the themes. As both a tacit recognition of our post-modern world and as a means of recycling ready-made material, Disney films have begun to deconstruct its take on old folktales. In last year’s “Maleficent,” for example, the QUOTE-evil-UNQUOTE fairy from “Sleeping Beauty” is portrayed as a rage-filled entity whose negative qualities were caused by a lover’s betrayal. Yep, just as it was man who killed Bambi’s mom, it was man who – in the case of “Maleficent” – literally carved up romantic trust.

Similarly, Disney’s 2010 update of Lewis Carroll’s “Alice in Wonderland” puts far less stress on the novel’s whimsical word-play and deliberate nonsense to craft a more easily accessible tale of friendship, loyalty and female empowerment.

While both movies proved profitable, neither achieved much critical acceptance.

So now we have a new “Cinderella” – live-action, or mostly so – and anyone would be forgiven for expecting something different. Something better. But as so many Grimm’s folktales show, hope often leads to disappointment.

This new “Cinderella” IS different, in that it tends to avoid any post-“Seinfeld” ironic sensibilities. The tale is told fairly straight, if we’re using Disney’s 1950 animated version as a model. Lovely Ella is born to a loving couple and enjoys a dreamy life, and the early love she feels gives her the strength to weather her mother’s death, dad’s remarriage to the haughty trio of stepmom and stepsisters, then dad’s death and her own gradual descent into servitude.

True love will prove the ultimate salvation, though the path to that resolution is powered more by the tagline uttered by our young heroine’s doomed mommy: “Have courage and be kind.” And, yeah, this feels familiar, if only somewhat satisfying, especially to someone who thinks a modern version of the musical “Camelot” would be much more interesting were it to be told from the evil Mordred’s point of view.

This new “Cinderella” IS likely to prove popular to the very young, even if the CGI effects do little more than provide comic relief, and the off-key performances of such trained actors as Cate Blanchett and Stellan Skarsgaard feel as if they belong more to a production of “Macbeth.”

If nothing else, Lily James – the “Downton Abbey” actress who plays the adult Ella – proves a bright spark of innocent spunk. No amount of cinder ash – or clownish CGI – can spoil her appeal.