Cinderella **1/2
Dir:  Kenneth Branagh
Starring: Lily James, Cate Blanchett, Richard Madden, Helena Bonham Carter, Holliday Grainger, Sophie McShera, Ben Chaplin, Derek Jacobi

Director Kenneth Branagh and Walt Disney Studios raid the casting cupboard of both A Game Of Thrones and Downton Abbey for this live-action, CGI-peppered update of the 1950 animated version of Charles Perrault’s fairy-tale.

Fans of the 1950 version will probably also like this one too but while there are bits which one enjoys it does feel overall as something of a retread.

A few bits are new(ish) - instead of land far, far way we get something out of Jane Austen, once removed, the evil stepmother (Cate Blanchett, channelling Joan Crawford) gets a little bit of a psychological makeover (we get an explanation for why she does what she does), and the prince gets something akin to an actual personality - but this is not a completely fresh take on old material like Maleficent or Frozen.

While the familiar bits are done quite well (the ballroom sequence is quite delightful and Helena Bonham-Carter brings a quirky sense of fun to her fairy godmother) I’m not quite sure that this particular retelling of the tale was absolutely necessary.

Note: The main feature is preceded by a short -- Frozen Fever -- featuring most of the main characters from Frozen. It is rather a lot of fun.

Cut to chase: Cute though a bit redundant

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