Cinderella

Is Cinderella officially a dinosaur? I realize that's a strange question to ask of a timeless and treasured fairytale, but there you have it. In today's fairytale world (see Maleficent, Frozen, Brave, et al), the heroines are fierce and self-sufficient and never in search of a Prince Charming (if they happen to come across one, bonus!—but finding him was never the goal.) Indeed, Cinderella is so out of step with today's popular culture, I half-wonder if children will be baffled by it: "But mom, why doesn't Cinderella kick the evil stepmother's butt?" "Why are all those girls trying on that stupid, uncomfortable slipper?" "Why are all the maidens fighting against each other?"

That being said, advancements in CGI have finally allowed us to make a live-action Cinderella where a real pumpkin magically turns into a gleaming chariot, and mice can talk, then comically balloon into pointy-eared horses. That's not for nothing. And in director Kenneth Branagh's capable hands, the film has generous amounts of imagination, wit, and flair.

The lovely and twinkly-eyed Lily James (Downton Abbey) plays the eternally optimistic Ella—the nickname "Cinderella" came when she was so cold she was forced to sleep on top of the furnace and emerged covered in soot. Both her beloved parents have died, leaving her in the care of her evil stepmother (Cate Blanchett) and two vain and nattering stepsisters (Sophie McShera and Holliday Grainger), who treat her like a servant.

Branagh gives Blanchett a true movie star's entrance: We see her from behind and then she slowly turns to the camera; her razor-sharp cheekbones alone spelling bad news for our heroine. As we saw in Blue Jasmine, Blanchett can do withering disdain with the best of them. She's a formidable villainess.

But, inspired by the words of her late mother to "have courage and be kind," Cinderella soldiers on, aided by her best friends, a menagerie of mice, birds, and other assorted woodland creatures, with whom she alone can communicate.

One day, Cinderella is riding in the woods on her beautiful white-and-grey-speckled steed when she comes across the handsome Prince Kit (Richard Madden, of Game of Thrones) and his hunting party, only she thinks he's a simple apprentice. They're both instantly smitten, and although the dying King (Derek Jacobi) wants his son to marry a princess, he allows Kit to open up the palace's ball to all the maidens in the village. Prince Kit is hoping against hope that Cinderella will make an appearance.

Certainly the most wonderful sequence of the film—worth the price of admission, as it were—is when Helena Bonham Carter shows up as the fairy godmother. The transformation of the giant pumpkin to a tricked-out chariot, the simple shoes to elaborately carved glass slippers ("they're actually quite comfortable!" the fairy godmother quips), not to mention the show-stopping, twirling reveal of Cinderella's classic blue dress, are all quite magical. The fun continues as Branagh and co. turn a lizard into a footman, a swan into a carriage driver, and Cinderella's mice into majestic horses.

Everything is done with care and affection—the costumes are particularly eye-popping—and the performances are uniformly excellent. So we've done it, okay? We have our classic, live-action Cinderella and it's a good one, at that. Can we finally file this fairytale under "Happily Ever After" now?