Remember the animated films of your childhood? Did you root for the good guys? Okey, now think of the movie itself. Which characters took the initiative? Which ones only had things happen to them rather than initiating any change themselves? If the answers to those last questions are the good guys and bad guys respectively, chances are your movie was preceded by a logo of a castle.
Cinderella the Cat is a half decent animation film but I did struggle with a few things. You get some dull characters as the good guys. The heroine waits to be rescued and the hero, well… He promises to rescue her at the very end. Cinderella herself, Mia Basile, is devoid of speech. For the most part what we get is the villains of the story dancing, celebrating and singing (a lot of singing) their victories. The major part of the story rests then on their performance.
The rehashed story of Cinderella has also a new setting. It takes place in the middle of a high tech ship that still records and plays holographic projects randomly. Inventor and magnate Basile, who was killed on his wedding night, still seems to roam the ship… and the plot. That was kind of charming. I have an issue with the POV sometimes being way too close to character’s faces though. Stepping back and letting us take it in works better.
Update: Initially I edited a paragraph very much like this out, but after much thought, I’ve decided to put it back in. Why? Because if the movie kept it in its runtime, then it must answer for it.
There’s an early scene that apparently we’re going to forget later when one stereotype of an asian character is ridiculed while he’s off camera, then killed when he dares try to tell the truth and ridiculed after he’s dead. You can call it sign of the times or flavour added because of the time setting, but I found it racist as hell. One of the stepsisters is either a man in drag or a trans woman, opening the door for all sort of homophobic/transphobic jokes. Did either decision added anything to the story? Nope, they just padded the runtime.
To add insult to injury, there’s a lull after everyone’s been introduced as we make time for the plot to move again. For dramatic licence purposes, Primo runs around the ship for the first two thirds of the movie “collecting evidence” and promising Mia he’ll come back (he could just take her with him at this point). The turning point for me was when the stepmother realizes she’s been betrayed. At that point, the movie became somewhat interesting again. Briefly.
Not recommended. I liked some of the premise, the whole holographic ghosts and the steampunk setting. To set the period, the movie feels the need to add some racism and some homophobic-transphobic flavor slurs. The camera angles sometimes get too close to characters and of course, characters gesticulate wildly when talking which feels like you’re watching a video game cutscene at certain times. Even for an hour and twenty-six minutes, the movie felt bloated and overdrawn.
That will do for now.
Never Think Impossible 