The story of a pretty girl, a charming prince, a mean stepmother, two dogface gremlin stepsisters, a kooky fairy godmother, a fat mouse, a giant pumpkin, a royal ball, the stroke of midnight, and one magical glass slipper. The fairytale, has been told over and over again, and everyone should be somewhat familiar with how everything turns out. This time, it's a Disney produced, Kenneth Branagh directed, live-action, big-budget, feature film, starring the delicious Lily James, as the title character, Cinderella.

Lily James is very easy on the eyes. She makes a top-notch Cinderella. The way her hair looks soaking wet is enough to convince me she has a great career ahead of her. I almost want to start watching…

84/100

This was just mindbogglingly astonishing. Woven from familiar cloth but embracing every tear and rip; Kenneth Branagh's Cinderella delves into the mistakenly tired and livens every plot point into something intensely glamorous and divine. Every shot, every luscious location, every dedicated performance, every eye-popping costume; the film dedicates itself to bringing the Cinderella fairy-tale to staggering life and startling emotion. It succeeds with flying colors, and the result is a sweeping piece of cinema with understanding, enthusiasm, and lively energy.

By the time the ball-room sequence was happening, I was just the remnants of my body liquefied, with the rest of me trickling down the theater auditorium, flowing around a fellow audience member's shoes. Cinderella is the kind of…

“I’ll have to tell you a secret that will see you through all the trials that life can offer: Have courage and be kind.”

Kenneth Branagh’s Cinderella isn’t much of a re-imagination of the classic Disney animated film as much as it is a straightforward live action retelling of the tale. In a time where we’ve seen several of Disney’s beloved classic stories being reimagined and told through a much darker light, Cinderella’s faithfulness to the familiar tale feels like a fresh of breath air. In papers it shouldn’t work, but surprisingly I found it way more engaging than Snow White and the Huntsman, Alice in Wonderland, and even Maleficent (which I actually ended up enjoying), all films which were…