Cinderella (2015) is the spin-off of the classic tale produced by Walt Disney, which originally premiered in 1950.  This new version of Cinderella is nice, but doesn’t live up to the original. Cinderella (2015) closely follows the storyline of the original film, and the performances of Lily James (young Ella), Cate Blanchett (Evil Stepmother), and Richard Madden (Prince Charming) were great, presenting more depth to the characters than the cartoon version in 1950 ever did.  However, this spin-off of the original version includes people who would be historically inaccurate in the time frame in which the story takes place, and who were never in the original 1950 film or Charles Perrault’s “Cendrillon” on which both films were based. These people are simply put into the film to satisfy the audience, but take away from the notion of life in Europe during the seventeenth century.

Furthermore, some parts of the film seemed cheesy, for the theme appeared to be playing, whether in dialogue or memory, in an endless lurid loop. Restating the theme many times in a film, novel, or other work creates the image of immaturity in the audience’s eyes.  However, despite these mediocre qualities, Cinderella (2015) had some very good aspects as well. The score was absolutely incredible. Patrick Doyle cleverly captures the essence of Cinderella (1950) without incorporating any of the original songs. The costumes were another astonishing quality of this film. The legendary Cinderella ball gown seen in 1950 is recreated in a refreshing and beautiful way. Even though Cinderella (2015) didn’t live up to the original version in 1950, it provided an invigorating trip back into the world of adolescence and fairy tales.