This live-action rendering of the classic story manages to pull off being true to its source material as well as to Disney's animated feature. I always felt the animated film from 65 years ago was a tad boring. It was dull, albeit whimsical, and it had a couple memorable moments. This film manages to flesh out the story, telling it in a manner more like historical fiction rather than fairy tale. But at the same time it has the look of something more colorful and striking than an even an animated film. There are plenty of playful nods to the animated version, including keeping characters' color schemes intact, some of the interactions between the cat, Lucifer, and the mice that inhabit the home, and the fairy godmother even says "bibbity bobbity boo" at least once for good measure.

The film opens with a fully fleshed out first act, telling us everything that led to Ella becoming Cinderella, something from the original tale that was sorely lacking in the animated one. And the visuals in this were often times so beautiful it took me out of the story, most notably the blue gown and the incredibly perfect incarnation of the live action glass slippers. I saw the film mainly for Cate Blanchett as the wicked stepmother and she did deliver, but so did everything else, and that was a nice surprise.

3.5 Stars (out of 5)