Compared to the more consciously empowered female leads of Disney hits such as Frozen and Brave, this live-action Cinderella is a bit trad. But it’s likable in its daft, swoony way, and director Kenneth Branagh gets robust performances, particularly from Cate Blanchett as the evil stepmother. Exquisitely lit and made-up, with nostrils flaring in contempt, she is a cross between a 1940s noir murderess and a highly displeased racehorse. The movie doesn’t, incidentally, deserve the fuss about Cinderella being overly thin – Branagh has denied using CGI. At one stage she is very thin, yet she is not that different from those admired feisty heroines in the above films.
Lily James is Cinders, finding herself in a Freudian nightmare when her mother dies and she gets a hateful stepmother and two awful stepsisters Drisella (Sophie McShera) and Anastasia (Holliday Grainger). A fairy godmother steps in (a slightly typecast Helena Bonham Carter), and after the ball there’s the glass slipper with all its brutally explicit conjugal symbolism. Richard Madden plays the prince: his court attire seems to include very tight and revealing trousers. Here, too, Branagh might have to deny digital enhancement. It’s good-natured and silly, with nice support from Rob Brydon, Nonso Anozie, Derek Jacobi and Katie West.
