Again with the Cinderella?
Only three months after she played a part in Into the Woods, Cinderella finds herself on the big screen again. This latest incarnation takes after Disney's 1950 animated film. It's the same old story done differently. How it's done differently gets my recommendation.
The familiar outline is the same. Cinderella (Lily James) is left alone with her evil stepmother Lady Tremaine (Cate Blanchett) and her evil stepsisters. The King holds a ball to find his son a bride. The Step-Family blocks Cinderella's path. Her Fairy Godmother (Helena Bonham-Carter) helps her get going. Cinderella catches the Prince's eye but she leaves at midnight. The Royals find her with her lost glass slipper.
The big difference in this version is story development. We see Cinderella's parents alive. We learn the origin of the name Cinderella. We see Cinderella meet the Prince before the ball. We see the Prince get an actual character. And we really see Lady Tremaine scheme to deny her stepdaughter a future.
Director Kenneth Branagh's Disney fairy tale cost $95 million. It's in many ways more subdued than the CGI-extravaganzas of Alice in Wonderland and Maleficent. But with sets by Dante Ferretti and costumes by Sandy Powell, it's still a colorful experience. Branagh's constant composer Patrick Doyle provides a suitable score for the emotional scenes. Stay to the end credits to hear renditions of two of the older film's standards.
This is a really great cast. Blanchett, as Lady Tremaine, is an over-the-top villainous who soon becomes vicious and bitter. Bonham-Carter's scene as the Fairy Godmother was welcome comic relief. And Lily James, as Cinderella, is a great ingenue who at times struggles to remain upbeat.
I say that this Cinderella is in the same league as the previous Disney film. It's a compelling story you've heard before. But it's still compelling. That's what a good redo ought to do.
A new musical animated short staring the cast of Frozen, Frozen Fever, precedes the picture. It should keep fans of that film happy before the actual feature-length sequel comes out.
About Me
- Jethrotcat
- This is the blog where I talk about the latest movies I've seen. These are my two Schnauzers, Rufus (left) and Marley (right, RIP). As of now, the Double Hollywood Strikes are officially over. May the next strikes not last as long as these ones did.
Friday, March 20, 2015
Saturday, March 7, 2015
Chappie
Chappie is not the best sci-fi film either this year or ever. But it's still a story with admirable intentions. Let's see what it's all about.
In the not so distant future, Johannesburg has its own robot police force. Engineer Deon Wilson (Dev Patel), who designed the robots, wants to do more. His ultimate goal is to create an artificially-intelligent robot on par with humans. His test subject is a broken-down droid.
Deon finds himself carjacked by desperate criminals. The criminals Ninja, Yolandi (played by the same-named members of the rap group Die Antwoord) and Yankie (Jose Pablo Cantillo) have one big heist in mind. They need Deon to shut down the robots to make it work. Once they see the robo parts in his van, they decide to have him build their own. That robot is Chappie (Sharlto Copley via motion-capture).
The rest of the movie is about Chappie's life-education. All the while, Chappie has to avoid scheming designer Vincent Moore (Hugh Jackman) and his ED-209 lookalike, the MOOSE.
Director Neil Blomkamp expanded an earlier short of his, Tetra Vaal, to feature length. The end result makes good use of its $50 million budget. The CGI work blended well with the real footage. The cinematography and production design made good use of Joburg. One of the locations, a round high-rise, reminded me of the central location of Dredd, which was also filmed in Joburg.
Chappie is a likable android. His naive attempts to act cool provided the film's best laughs. Meanwhile, the character Ninja spends most of the movie completely unlikable. He wants to shoot either Chappie or Deon for annoying him. He takes advantage of Chappie's gullibility to make him do carjackings. It takes too long before he goes hero. A minor complaint is the minor villain Hippo (Brandon Auret). The film subtitles his dialogue even though most of it is intelligible English.
It would've helped Chappie if its main characters were better developed. I understand what they were trying to do, though. Let's hope this year produces much better blockbusters down the line.
In the not so distant future, Johannesburg has its own robot police force. Engineer Deon Wilson (Dev Patel), who designed the robots, wants to do more. His ultimate goal is to create an artificially-intelligent robot on par with humans. His test subject is a broken-down droid.
Deon finds himself carjacked by desperate criminals. The criminals Ninja, Yolandi (played by the same-named members of the rap group Die Antwoord) and Yankie (Jose Pablo Cantillo) have one big heist in mind. They need Deon to shut down the robots to make it work. Once they see the robo parts in his van, they decide to have him build their own. That robot is Chappie (Sharlto Copley via motion-capture).
The rest of the movie is about Chappie's life-education. All the while, Chappie has to avoid scheming designer Vincent Moore (Hugh Jackman) and his ED-209 lookalike, the MOOSE.
Director Neil Blomkamp expanded an earlier short of his, Tetra Vaal, to feature length. The end result makes good use of its $50 million budget. The CGI work blended well with the real footage. The cinematography and production design made good use of Joburg. One of the locations, a round high-rise, reminded me of the central location of Dredd, which was also filmed in Joburg.
Chappie is a likable android. His naive attempts to act cool provided the film's best laughs. Meanwhile, the character Ninja spends most of the movie completely unlikable. He wants to shoot either Chappie or Deon for annoying him. He takes advantage of Chappie's gullibility to make him do carjackings. It takes too long before he goes hero. A minor complaint is the minor villain Hippo (Brandon Auret). The film subtitles his dialogue even though most of it is intelligible English.
It would've helped Chappie if its main characters were better developed. I understand what they were trying to do, though. Let's hope this year produces much better blockbusters down the line.
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