This past week, I hauled the Giant to go see a movie. You’d think he’d be terribly excited about that…. and he was… until I told him that the movie was Cinderella.
It’s not your typical teen boy choice in movies for sure, but… he went with me with the promise of popcorn and a chance to avoid his assigned reading for the night.
Before we get to the movie itself… I LOVED LOVED LOVED the Frozen Fever Featurette before the movie so don’t miss out on that!
Cinderella is one of my favorite of the Disney stories. I adore the 1950 classic animated Cinderella from my mother’s youth… I ADORE Drew Barrymore and her take in the Cinderella story Ever After (and maybe watch it often… alone…)… and when I learned that they were going to make a live action version, I reverted back to my giddy-school-girl self. And after seeing it? It was literally EVERYTHING I wanted from Cinderella.
I’m not sure there is such a thing as a spoiler with a story as classic as Cinderella… part of the draw is to see the magic and wonder brought to life in a way that only Disney can. Part of the appeal was the breathing of new life into a old classic.
One of the earlier scenes however set the stage for a reoccurring theme of the movie and, well, life.
Courage and Kindness.
And I loved that. More than words.
To have the courage to be kind. I can’t even wrap my head around all the words I want to say about that… not yet anyway.
Oh sure… there were a few scenes that drug a bit… a smidge over-dramatic at times… but there were also moments when I witnessed my Giant stealthily wipe a few tears during a particularly touching scene between Prince Charming and the King… and more laugh out loud moments for the both of us to count.
Mostly though, it touched me with it’s innocence of characters and the back story to pieces that previously were left out.
As one might expect from a Disney movie, the costumes and casting were utter perfection. Cate Blanchett is absolutely perfect as the evil stepmother and while you despise her character for her actions, you find yourself empathetic to her as well.
Lily James is a perfect Cinderella with her fresh-faced innocence that also displays strength of character.
And don’t even get me started on just how perfect Helena Bonham Carter was as the Fairy Godmother.
I know that other movie goers felt that the missing musical soundtrack we heard with the animated classic took away from the movie, but honestly, I didn’t miss it at all. And that’s weird coming from me… but all in all, it was magical and wonderful and everything a fairy tale should be. It’s one of those movies where I know I’ll be buying it on Amazon Prime pre-order so I can get it right away and watching it over and over again. And yes, even at almost 40, I still believe that someday my prince will come and we too shall live happily ever after. And I probably always will.
Even better than the movie itself is the contest that Disney is running through March 27th – Perfect Fit Sweepstakes includes one night stay in Cinderella’s CASTLE!!! plus a whole prize package fit for a princess.
Cinderella opens in theaters Friday March 13th, 2015 and you can check them out on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest so check them out there too!
And any of you locals who want to go see Cinderella? Let me know and I’ll go with you!
The Frozen featurette was BRILLIANT (of course!) – and now I can’t wait for FROZEN 2!! Cinderella was SUCH a fantastic movie!! I can’t wait to go see it again!