Blu-ray Review: CINDERELLA

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Jul 02, 2022 Posted by Kyle Nolan in DVD/Blu-ray, Reviews | Comments

Ella (Camila Cabello) has been relegated to the role of maid and servant, cleaning the house and taking care of anything her stepmother Vivian (Idina Menzel) and two dim-witted stepsisters, Malvolia (Maddie Baillio) and Narissa (Charlotte Spencer), demand. They have given her the name Cinder-Ella due to her often dingy look. Ella spends her free time in the basement with her only friends—three mice named James (James Corden), John (James Acaster) and Romesh (Romesh Ranganathan)—designing dresses and dreaming of one day having her own shop. However, her stepmother tells her that girls don’t engage in matters of business and forbids this nonsense. Instead, she and her diaghters are more concerned with finding husbands in order to secure their wealth and status. Meanwhile, at the castle, King Rowan (Pierce Brosnan) is growing increasingly more frustrated with his son, Prince Robert (Nicholas Galitzine), who doesn’t like to work, preferring to hang out with his “merry bros”. The prince also doesn’t really have any interest in ruling the kingdom—though his sister, Princess Gwen (Tallulah Greive), is more than eager and qualified, if only she wasn’t a woman. Prince Robert has no plans to settle down any time soon—he finds all of the princesses he is set up with to be a bit boring and stuffy. But the king has had enough—his son is turning the kingdom into a laughing stock, and so he arranges a ball, inviting every available woman in the kingdom. While Ella isn’t necessarily looking for a husband, she sees the ball as an opportunity to show her designs to the rich elite in attendance. And so, with the help of some magic from her Fabulous Godmother (Billy Porter), Ella is transformed and able to attend the ball in disguise, wearing one of her dress designs and some glass shoes. However, she must be careful as this magic will expire at midnight.

Cinderella is a fresh new take on the classic fairytale, with a familiar medieval setting but with the characters having a more modern sensibility, poking fun at some of the issues with the dated fairytale. As the film opens, we are told that this is an old fashioned kingdom bound by tradition that no one has questioned, but that that world is about to change. Another aspect of this version of the tale is that it is a musical, featuring covers of modern pop songs.

When I first sat down to watch this film, I didn’t even know that it was a musical, let alone a modern musical. But I quickly realized what type of movie this was going to be as soon as Ella and the other townsfolk started doing choreographed dance moves while going about their daily work, singing a mashup of Janet Jackson’s “Rhythm Nation” and Des’ree’s “You Gotta Be”. I have to say, I was pleasantly surprised—the song choices were excellent and well performed throughout the film. The music fits in perfectly with the story—whether it’s the prince singing Queen’s “Somebody to Love” about trying to find his bride or later Ed Sheeran’s “Perfect” when he sees Ella, or the evil stepmother admitting she’s a “Material Girl”, or all the potential brides fangirling over the prince at the ball to Salt-N-Pepa’s “Whatta Man” while the prince fends them off to The White Stripes’ “Seven Nation Army”. One original song in the film is “Million To One”, which is belted out by Cabello (even in a duet with herself at one point), and it’s quite catchy—even days after watching the movie, it’s still stuck in my head. There is also a Town Crier (Ben Bailey Smith) who pops in every once in a while to move the story along, rapping news of the kingdom’s latest happenings to the townsfolk, accompanied by his band and dancers.

I’m not sure why there seems to be a lot of hate in the ratings for this film. I found it to be a fun, clever new take on a classic fairytale that has been done over and over again. The film doesn’t take itself too seriously, and makes many self-aware comments at how ridiculous some of the things that are happening are. There is a lot of humor and social commentary wowen throughout, but it never feels preachy. The majority of the characters feel a bit more three dimensional than your typical version of this tale—even the stepmother isn’t just a cartoon villain, and has a humanity to her. There are several characters who just pop in here and there for a funny line, like a running gag with Princess Gwen having these really big, modern ideas on ways to improve the kingdom that just get ignored because she’s a woman, or some fun banter between the king and queen (Minnie Driver), a running bit with this creepy older suitor Thomas Cecil (Rob Beckett) who frequently visits the home of Ella and her stepsisters, or some really hilarious dim-witted statements from the stepsisters. The three talking mice also add some fun comic relief.

Overall, I found this to be a fun, fresh take on the classic Cinderella fairytale. It has a modern feel, but without setting it in the modern world (like the Cinderella Story films). It changes the focus of story from being about a woman needing the love of a man in order to complete her life into one about a independent woman trying to find herself and her own desires above all else. But at the same time, it still feels like a retelling of the classic tale.

Sony’s Blu-ray release looks and sounds great. The picture is pristine and clear, and while the level of detail is generally quite good, it varies a bit from scene to scene. In some scenes you really see the detail in faces, and in the texture of clothing such as the prince’s jacket, but in other scenes, this level of detail is less noticeable. There is also one scene as Ella runs from the ball at midnight where it’s somewhat difficult to make things out in the darkness. The audio track provides clear dialogue and showcases the film’s many musical numbers. While some of these songs feel a bit over-produced for the scenes, and don’t really feel like the character is necessarily singing it in the moment, the audio still sounds great. The surround sound is well-utilized throughout to add ambiance and an immersive feeling. This is especially noticeable in one scene where the king is making some comments to his son, and a chorus is listening in the adjoining room and sing along their response.

The Blu-ray disc comes packed in a standard HD keepcase without slipcover. The release contains an insert with a code to redeem for an HD digital copy of the film (which is Movies Anywhere compatible). The only bonus feature is a short gag reel.

What’s Included:

Film: (1:52:38)

1080p / Widescreen 2.39:1
Audio: English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio, English Audio Descriptive Service, French 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio, Portuguese 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio, Spanish 5.1 Dolby Digital
Subtitles: English, English SDH, Chinese Simplified, Chinese Traditional, French, Korean, Portuguese, Spanish, Thai

Digital (May be subject to expiration):

HD Digital Copy (Movies Anywhere compatible)

Extras:

Gag Reel (2:46)
The cast sing, dance, laugh, flub their lines, and just have fun on set.
Previews (8:23)
Trailers for The Mitchells vs The Machines (2:57), Ghostbusters: Afterlife (2:32) and Spider-Man: No Way Home (2:54) play back to back.

Final Thoughts:

My Rating

Film:

Video:

Audio:

Extras:

Recommended

Cinderella is a fun, fresh new take on the classic fairytale, giving it a more modern sensibility while still keeping the same medieval look and setting. The film mixes modern music and choreographed dance numbers with some witty writing and a great cast. This is a film the whole family can enjoy together. Sony’s Blu-ray release looks and sounds great, but is lacking in bonus material, just including a single 3-minute gag reel. I would still recommend this release based on the film itself, but for those who may be concerned they won’t like this new take on the classic, as of the time of this review, the film is still available to Amazon Prime subscribers.