Review: Cinderella, on Amazon Prime

Source: Cinderella (2021) (imdb.com)

Now that all my pieces are from London are done with and uploaded, it's time to look back to the screen for a minute while I save up for the next trip. 

In the past couple of weeks, Amazon Prime have released two musical films: one being the film version of Everybody's Talking About Jamie, the other being a retelling of the classic Cinderella. 

As you can see we are getting this one out of the way first....

You all the know the classic fairy-tale, and the idea of Hollywood giving classic stories a "twist"; this one sees the titular character wanting to own her dressmaking business. It was written and directed by Kay Cannon, who wrote and produced the Pitch Perfect films (guilty pleasure of mine)... but it also has James Cordon (The Prom) as one of the producers. Well we're off to a great start come what may aren't we. 

The biggest problem with this is the script. It has a good message at its heart, but we have seen the "screw what others think and forge your own path" story done much better beforehand. 

It may not be like a 2000s animated flop packed full of pop culture references, but it relies on a lot of gags in there that just aren't funny. Or the ones that make you laugh at how bad they are. The only one that I found genuinely funny was this one that the Queen says to her husband: "..serenade me with your skull-splitting voice" - the punchline being her husband is played by Pierce Brosnan (Mamma Mia) 

As well as the gags this film likes to call "jokes", the cheese also comes from the musical numbers. This is predominantly a jukebox musical with only a couple of original songs. (The only one I though was ok was Dream Girl and that's it.) The transitions into the songs weren't fluid and felt either out of place, over the top or both. 

The cast for this seemed good on paper (well, at least the extended cast did). Leading was Camila Cabello as the title character and Nicholas Galitzine as the Prince Charming of this version Robert. Concerning their chemistry.... I've seen worse. I was more annoyed about Cabello constantly singing through her nose than anything else. 

Out of the cast I haven't mentioned Maddie Baillio (Hairspray Live) and Charlotte Spencer played the Stepsisters who were barely given anything to do, we had three mice played by Romesh Ranganathan, James Acaster and .... yep, James Corden who had possibly the cringiest lines in the whole show... 

And Beverley Knight. That was cool but they didn't give her a song - what the hell?! 

The one who kept the film on her shoulders was Idina Menzel (Frozen 2), who played the Stepmother. She was the only one who both had a bit of meat to her and definitely tried with what she had. I would also put Billy Porter in that category as well, but his sassy Fabulous Godmother only had 1 scene unfortunately - and no his voiceover does not count. 

As well as Ms Menzel, I did really like the costumes and wigs, particularly in the ball scene. They all had their own individuality to them while popping off the screen, and some of the effects were good too. I in particular liked the Fabulous Godmother's transformation scene - and Billy Porter's costume come to that. 

However, not ALL the effects worked.... in fact, some of them have definitely been put in the nightmare fuel category....

Is it the worse film I have seen? No I don't think so. Is it CATS bad? Errr, I don't know. But like that film, if you choose to watch it, have either someone alcoholic or very sugary on standby. 

What this film has reminded me of more than anything is how the entertainment industry is relying on playing it safe to bring in the cash. This is why I have gone off the majority of the live-action Disney remakes, because they are for the money, and not about making a good product, at least compared to the original. In the past couple of days, I have heard about how bad the Dear Evan Hansen film is; and while I reserve judgement on it until I have seen it for myself, at least the show it is based on is an original concept. 

HOW many times have we seen Cinderella being hashed into something "different"? Heck, we also have Andrew Lloyd Webber's take in the West End at the moment, which is also getting an extremely mixed reception among both fans and critics alike. 

If you want to see a Cinderella, there are plenty of better versions out there. From the 1950 Disney classic, to Ever After, the Rodgers + Hammerstein version, or the 2015 live-action Disney one (to be fair, that one is actually ok, the chemistry between Lily James and Richard Madden being one of the best I've seen in a Cinderella). 

What I am trying to say is there are a lot of better versions out there: so what was the point in this lazy trash?! 

This weekend has been the one where Diana: The Musical was released on Netflix - and to be honest I am not sure I can bring myself to watch it, going by all the trolling it has received on Twitter. Stick to The Crown by the sounds of it.... And while Cinderella is lazy though, it was fun in a "let's watch a really trashy film" mood. 

Out of the two Amazon Prime releases, at least I saw Cinderella first; and hopefully Jamie sometime soon. A much better film night in casa Hutch is in order....