Review: CINDERELLA, Amazon Prime Original
Photo credit: Amazon Prime
There is only one word to describe the new Cinderella now premiering on Amazon Prime and that is unique. This film will certainly not be everyone’s cup of tea. Written and directed by Kay Cannon, the film is produced by James Corden.
The film has attempted to take a very familiar tale and put a new spin on it, and whilst to some degree it does add interesting plot advances, it struggles to find its own identity. Having Cinderella wanting to become a dressmaker and forge her own career instead of simply accepting her place in society is an excellent addition to the story.
The cast assembled is a flurry of Hollywood and British household names and they manage to make the characters at least slightly interesting.
Pierce Brosnan and Minnie Driver are excellent as the King and Queen, really carrying the scenes that they are in; Beverley Knight makes a wonderful cameo as Queen Tatiana; comedians James Acaster, Romesh Ranganathan and Rob Beckett get to show off their acting abilities and whilst a little reigned in from their usual performance, they are funny and add to the scenes they are in. Acaster - as one of the mice - has a particularly humorous scene when he is adapting to being temporarily changed to a human.
Camilla Cabello takes on the role of Cinderella or in this case Ella, and she manages to add a bit of feistiness and grit to the character in what feels like a very ‘millennial’ way. Cabello puts in an excellent performance vocally and has some comedic moments to try and distinguish her from previous Cinderella’s.
The choice of songs in the musical are a little strange. Did the world need a ‘Seven Nation Army/ Whatta Man’ mash-up? It feels a little messy, and further choices just don’t seem to fit very well within the storyline. Having said that, all of the vocals in the piece are flawless. Idina Menzel is on top form once again with her vocals and is given the chance to flourish with two solos well deservedly.
Nicholas Galitzine as Prince Robert, aka Prince Charming, has his role fleshed out, giving a more in-depth background and Galitzine manages to make a usually dull and often resigned to non-speaking Prince Charming much more interesting.
The film makes some wonderfully progressive and modern points but it tells the audience instead of showing. With this all done through dialogue, the story loses its flow. All the work has gone into developing the characters to be different and more interesting but when they engage with other characters, you lose a lot of that work.
What the film does deserve commending for is its LGBTQ+ representation; it may be a small representation but it is there. We have a genderless Fabulous Godparent played by Billy Porter in a stunning gold outfit and heels, and transgender actor Jenet Le Lacheur playing Count Wilbur. Whilst there is POC representation, it is mostly as supporting characters so it would have been nice to have seen more people of colour in the main cast.
*** Three stars
Reviewed by: Emma Rooney
Cinderella is now available to watch on Amazon Prime.