Movie review: Cinderella
CINDERELLA (PG13)
Now streaming on Amazon Prime Video, this latest take on the classic fairy tale apparently comes from "an original idea by James Corden".
I am not sure what the original idea is - a classic fairy tale, a cast of celebs, peppered with pop singalongs and lots of self-referential gags at the expense of the less credible aspects of the story or production.
This is essentially the formula for the standard British pantomime, only on film.
But is it fun? Well, in parts.
Anyone who winced through the Mamma Mia! movies will appreciate the many jokes about Pierce Brosnan's singing, er, ability. And some of the quips at the story get at least a snort.
Otherwise, it is an odd mix with a muddled message.
The pop hits for this jukebox romance musical appear to be chosen for their title only, and the lyrics' relevance to the scene is often tenuous (Seven Nation Army, Rhythm Nation and Material Girl stand out in their awkwardness).
It would help if the composition of Cinderella's versions of the songs had some verve to them, something original. But these renditions are uniformly flat.
US pop star Camila Cabello takes the title role - this time Ella is an aspiring fashion designer determined to strike out on her own.
Idina Menzel is her evil stepmother and suitably horrid for a while, ruining Ella's gown with ink.
But then the film tries to square her behaviour through some twisted cruel-to-be-kind logic to justify the nastiness.
Prince Charming (Nicholas Galitzine) is firmly in the nice if bland band of leading men, while Billy Porter as the Fabulous Godmother borders on being a great addition if he was allowed to do more than dole out catchphrases.
Corden, along with Brit comics Romesh Ranganathan and James Acaster, voice the mice-turned-footmen, and one of the main sources for pointing out how ridiculous everything is to varying amounts of hilarity.
It is probably not a good sign that the more interesting story is between Brosnan and Minnie Driver's king and queen.
While Cinderella will have its fans (people love a singalong no matter what), this is an update that is neither needed nor likely to enter the pantheon of classic adaptations. - JONATHAN ROBERTS
score : 2/5
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