Skip to main content

Cinderella (2021)

 



Cinderella is a modern take on the classic tale. This time everything is politically upside down.

Written and Directed by Kay Cannon,  Cinderella takes any chance it can to push an agenda. It's nauseating in the forcefulness of the propaganda. It's hard to take any scene that isn't singing seriously. It lives in a dystopian world where anyone who doesn't think progressively like-minded is a fool and shouldn't have joy. The direction is okay, but that's to be expected as she probably picked up some being the producer of the Pitch Perfect trillogy.

Camila Cabello plays Cinderella and her first major film. She can sing and performs well next to her stepmother played by Idina Menzel, who needs no introduction. Surely, she will be in future musicals and I can only hope for one with a better writer.

Pierce Brosnan plays King Rowan and is forceful in his performance but given the point of his character, it's sad to see. Someone had to be the punching bag, and despite having a musical legacy I really wish he was written with more depth.

The writing really wants to be like Hamilton but isn't quite there. There is a reason why this wasn't brought to the silver screen and was left for the digital platform. Only one place was even showing it at the movies. It's not like there is a lot of competition out there right now as there are few films that hit this demographic out there. As a movie that trashes the past, I'd pass this one over and watch my favorite musical Seven Brides for Seven Brothers. 

Result: D- It's a chore to watch and difficult to stomach. Unless you enjoy getting your views validated, avoid and wait for West Side Story later this year.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Colony (2026)

Colony is written and directed by Yeon Sang-ho , the director behind the cult classic Train to Busan . While Train to Busan has become the more celebrated film, Colony shows how much Yeon has improved as both a writer and a director. The story is stronger, the filmmaking feels more confident, and the way he builds the world gives the movie more substance than I expected going in. Jun Ji-hyun is the clear standout of the cast. She does a fantastic job conveying emotion through subtle movements and expressions rather than relying on exaggerated acting. That is not surprising considering she is one of South Korea's best actresses, but she still manages to make the character feel grounded and believable. She carries much of the emotional weight of the film. I did not recognize many of the other actors, and unfortunately, none of them really stood out enough to make much of an impression. That is not necessarily a knock against the cast as much as it is a testament to how much Jun ...

Verity (2026)

Verity was a surprise for me. Normally, the authors who turn their books into movies that I actually enjoy are Stephen King or Michael Crichton , but Colleen Hoover has been doing surprisingly well with the last four movies adaptations from her work. One thing I appreciate about her writing is that she knows how to write male characters who aren't weak or simply there to be punching bags for feminist talking points. That alone makes the characters feel more believable and gives the story a better balance. Dakota Johnson plays an up and coming writer who is brought in to ghostwrite for Anne Hathaway's character. This is easily Johnson's best performance yet. She does a good job carrying the movie and making the character's uncertainty and curiosity believable as the mystery around the house starts to unfold. Anne Hathaway does not have a huge amount to do because of her character's condition, but whenever she is actually on screen, she brings the energy you wo...

Digger (2026)

Digger is directed by Alejandro G. Iñárritu and stars Tom Cruise as Digger Rockwell. Much like his name, there is a lot of symbolism and meaning packed into the film, along with plenty of references that brought a smile to my face. I went into this expecting it to be pretentious or outright bad because that was the prevailing opinion online before general audiences had even had a chance to see it. Anyone calling this movie pretentious clearly has not seen The Death of Robin Hood or Die My Love . Die My Love was so pretentious that my wife actually begged me to leave the theater, and I had to finish it another day. Digger , on the other hand, actually understands the difference between being ambitious and simply being self-important. Tom Cruise is great as Digger Rockwell, giving the character exactly the kind of larger-than-life personality the movie needs. There is so much going on beneath the surface that I found myself constantly looking for the symbolism and references hidden...