Ignore The Hooting, Saucy Sassy & Sexy.. Cinderella Is A Charmer

Cinderella(Amazon Prime)

Cinderella Movie Review: This revisionist  reconstruction  of  the Cinderella  saga is  so sassy, saucy and sexy , it  is a  joy to behold  . It fills you with a warm cuddly thoughts  about how wonderful this world  can be if we can get our wishes from the  woosh  of a wand.

Speaking of which , the fairy godmother is here played by  the the ultra-talented  black American singer  comedian Bill Porter. His extended cameo in  a shimmering gown is a hoot. I would pay a fortune to watch a  whole film about the fairy godmother if she is  played by Porter.

  Maybe some other time.  Right now Cinderella must rush  to the  ball at the  royal palace  to meet  Prince Robert(Nicholas Galitzine) who is  a prince by lineage  and a democrat  by heart.

As played by the Cuban American  singer  turned actress Camilla Cabello, Cinderella sparkles with a  earthy  charm anda  ravishing  resilience. This Cinderella  doesn’t want to marry the prince and “settle down”(whatever that means). She wants  to  become a dress designer and travel the world with her  creation.And that pair  of  glass shoes, they  are most uncomfortable on her feet.

Writer-director Kay Cannon’s  innovations are  pert and provocative.She plays around with the original  fairytale , flirting with the  time-tested material  ,precociously  polishing the  rough edges,sneakily streamlining  the stereotypes filling up the edges with  a maelstrom  of music  and songs. The  end-result is  a sparkling slinky saga  that sings and dances  to the audience.

While there is  no end to the innovations and embellishments that make the original Cinderella look  prissy  I must  mention Cinderella’s three pet mice who turn into her stagecoach drivers. One of them is played by comic actor  of Sri Lankan origin Romesh Ranganathan.

 By the time Cinderella’s stemother(Idina Menzel) gets together with  her two stepdaughters  to sing Madonna’s Material Girl I knew exactly why the  stepmother was so  cruel to Cinderella. Pumpkins, stagecoaches and glass shoes are all very well. But at the end  of the week, there are  bills to pay.While the workaday worries  well  up in the  background  there is much singing and dancing and rejoicing on the screen  to partake  of.And yes , the very likeable  Pierce Brosnon and Minnie Driver playing the King and  Queen also join in the singing and dancing.

And some critics are still carping?