Cinderella (2015)

The Disney studio had a long tradition of mining the trove of fairy tales and turning them into animated films which have been childhood classics for several generations. Lately, it is now mining its own trove of beloved animated classics and turning them into live action feature films. This year, one of Disney's most iconic princesses gets the live action treatment, "Cinderella."

We see young Ella growing up in a happy family with the virtues of courage and kindness deeply inculcated in her. We see her orphaned and left at the mercy of her cruel stepmother Lady Tremaine and her two lazy foolish stepsisters Drizella and Anastasia. We see how Fairy Godmother magically help Cinderella go to the ball. We see how she danced with the Prince at the ball, but had to run off by the strike of midnight, leaving one of her glass slippers behind. We see how the Prince uses the slipper to find her and live happily ever after. We see everything as we knew it by heart, but Branagh managed to bring it to spectacular life with vivid imagery and touching emotion.

The script was written by Chris Weitz faithfully follows the well-known animated Disney version of the tale released in 1950. As directed by Kenneth Branagh, there was very minimal re-imagining done here, compared to Tim Burton's version of "Alice in Wonderland" or Angelina Jolie's portrayal of "Maleficent". This film is so unabashedly targeted for the ladies and girls of the romantic type. This is a major big-production chick flick that goes all out for the all the sweet moments it can squeeze out of the story. The charisma and chemistry of the young leads were more than sufficient in this regard.

I thought Lily James perfectly embodied Cinderella with her delicate face, long flowing hair, kind demeanor and natural elegance, even as a kitchen maid. Unlike when I thought Lily Allen and Kristen Stewart were totally wrong actresses when they played Snow White in two separate movie versions of that other fairy tale, I totally accept Lily James as Cinderella. Since I did not know she was in "Downton Abbey," I am seeing her as a totally new actress breaking through with a successful portrayal of a very iconic character.

Prince Charming has a name here, Kit, played by Richard Madden, Madden is clean cut and totally charming here, complete with that princely twinkle in his eyes, not immediately recognizable as his previous character of Robb Stark from the popular TV series "Game of Thrones." Fortunately for Madden, the character of the prince was also expanded from how we know him from the cartoon, so we get to meet him even before the ball itself.

The scene-stealing role of Lady Tremaine was portrayed by the always scene-stealing Cate Blanchett. With her over-the-top haute couture gowns, Blanchett is definitely an eye-catching sight. The bitter cruelty of her character was given a lot more depth than how the cartoon stepmother was portrayed. Blanchett played the role with wicked delight.

The cinematography by Haris Zambarloukos is so vibrant with a bright color palette that pops out of the screen. The production design of Daniel Ferretti was so opulent and grandiose in scale. The costumes of Sandy Powell were so richly designed and meticulously detailed. The musical score by Patrick Doyle envelops the film and brings us to a fairytale time and land. The visual effects of the magical transformation of pumpkin and animals to the coach, horses and staff were delightfully done (with the ever-quirky Helena Bonham-Carter as Fairy Godmother). The remarkably beautiful moment where Cinderella danced with the Prince is a perfect scene which highlights all these masterful and award-worthy technical aspects. 9/10.