Theater Info:
AMC Santa Monica 7
1310 3rd St, Santa Monica
Cost: $7.29 for a matinee showing
Movie Stats:
Released 2015 (Germany)
American, in English
Director - Kenneth Branagh
Stars - Lily James, Cate Blanchett, Richard Madden, Helena Bonham Carter
Plot Summary:
It’s the fairytale story “Cinderella.” Surely you’re already familiar with it. James stars as Cinderella, Blanchett as her evil stepmother, Madden as the prince, and Carter as the fairy godmother.
Warnings:
None.
Bad Stuff:
It’s as saccharine sweet of a movie as you’ll ever see. It’s a bit much.
In the concluding scene of the “hunt for the wearer of the glass slipper,” there was a twist that was so convenient that I actually rolled my eyes.
[SPOILER sort of]
There really aren’t any consequences for the bad guys.
[SPOILER]
Good Stuff:
The costumes were fantastic. In fact, it was seeing the costumes in the trailer that made me want to see this film.
As overly sweet as it was, it was still cute, light-hearted, and fun. It was immensely entertaining.
I don’t think there was a weak performance in the lot. Kudos to the make-up department for making Madden (who most folks know as Rob Stark on “Game of Thrones”) completely unrecognizable. And kudos to the casting people for including Hayley Atwell (of “Agent Carter” fame) as Cinderella’s mother.
The Verdict:
Honestly, there’s not a lot to say about it. This movie doesn’t add anything new to the tale, although I don’t think that was its intent. It’s a simple retelling, and in that, it does a very good job. It’s PG enough for kids while at the same time it’s entertaining enough for adults. It’s cute and touching, it’s visually stunning, all the actors are very likable, and, as fairytales often do, it has an appropriately happy ending. I really enjoyed it.
I give it 4 stars.
About AMC Santa Monica 7:
To be honest, I’d been to this theater a couple of times before and wasn’t impressed. Located in the heart of downtown Santa Monica (right on the Promenade), it was old and rundown and you have to pay for parking, there’s no way around it unless you take a cab or public transit. However, it’s currently under renovation. They’re turning it into a dine-in theater, which pleases me since it’s much closer to where I live than the one in Marina. Only two of the screens are currently open, but they’ve already been renovated, so I got the cushy seats at the cheap price, which was nice. I’m looking forward to more shows at this place in the future!
2 comments:
I just saw this and I LOVED it. In fact, I waited until after I wrote my review to read your review.
I don't think it broke new ground either, but between the performances and the costumes I was so incredibly happy. It was so pretty to look at.
I also loved how it wasn't a fully period piece, i.e. the costumes were all "fairy tail-ish" but grabbed things from everywhere, like Cate Blanchett's 40's style details and the very 50's looking sweater sets/skirts the stepsisters were wearing when they tried on the glass slipper. I could have watched this with bad acting just for the costumes.
It didn't really click with me that the evil stepmother's outfits were all 40s style, but once you said it, I could see it (the 50s style of the stepsisters was more obvious to me). I'm feeling a little bummed that this movie came so early in the year because that makes me wonder if it's going to get passed over come Oscars season. It really deserves the costume design award.
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