The beautiful and talented singer Camila Cabello plays Cinderella. Although the film is set in a Cinderellie-Cinderellie medieval time period, the movie is not shy to embracing contemporary musical and progressive themes. The cast lineup is quite extensive with Nicholas Galitzine as the Prince. Pierce Brosnan and Minnie Driver as King and Queen. Billy Porter as Fab G aka the fairy Godmother. The talented singer Idina Menzel plays the evil stepmother with stepsisters Anastasia and Drizella, played by Maddie Bailio and Charlotte Spencer in-toe and we even have Romesh Ranganathan, James Acaster, and James Corden as horsemen. There are many new characters introduced including the Town Crier played by Missy Elliot.

The story we all know, and love has a modern twist. “Do you want to go to a ball and meet a bunch of rich people who will change your life?” Asked, Fab G. “Yes, I was just crying and singing about it like two-minutes about.” Replied, Cinderella. This fairytale is really about a young woman chasing her dreams; it is the story of dresses by Ella.

Here are some new themes for this film < SPOILER ALERTS>:

1. The prince has a storyline about the pressures of being a royal.
2. Prince Robert & Cinderella meet at market. “Huzzah” where the prince purchases Cinderella’s first dress and catapulted her entrepreneur dress making dreams.
3. Fabulous G (fairy Godmother) – Billy Porter was indeed fabulous. He was the standout character in the film, and I wanted to see him in more scenes. “Hush. It’s magic time.”
4. Cinderella discussed her entrepreneurial dreams with the prince. (Note the gorgeous grand piano in the scene.
5. Cinderella’s stepmom confesses to Cinderella that she was a talented pianist and had “the audacity to want more.”
6. Cinderella’s dreams of becoming a famous seamstress/stylist are jeopardy. This is also when the Stepmom encourages Cinderella to marry the prince and save the family or she threatens to marry off Cinderella to Thomas and/or kick her out on the street.
7. James Gordon is a CGI mouse turned horseman who enjoys clapping. He was the comic relief we were all needing in between all the singing scenes.
8. Minnie Driver side story is exhausting with being a silent figure head with no voice – there are some mature ideas that kids may not understand.

This is a musical with exquisitely beautiful costumes, exciting dancing, and the most talented singers. The songs are well known however, rearranged to have a contemporary feel to them. Some would say it had a Mulan Rouge feel to it in that sense of taking classic songs and modernizing them.

Here is the song line-up:

• Janet Jackson opener song – (sung by Camila Cabello/Cinderella)

• Queen – ‘Somebody to Love’ (Prince)

• Breakout/ new song Camila sings, “You’re going to know my name.”

• ‘Material Girl’ – (sung by Idina Menzel)

• “Hamilton-esque” town crier

• Prince and Cinderella duo song to Am I Wrong – by Nico & Vinz

• Shining Star

• “Nothing in life stays the same good or bad”

• Courting women – What a man (Salt N Peta)

• Prince – 7 Nation Army White Stripes (cello smash)

• Perfect by Ed Sheeran – Cinderella dances with the prince.

• Stepmom (Idina Menzel) breaks into song “The world doesn’t need another dream girl. Bury it. Marry it. Carry it down to your grave.”

• Minnie Driver brings the film to wrap sing us into the last scene which was an adaptation of J. Lo’s ‘Let’s Get Loud.’ Camilla Cabello then sings and dances as the story confirms she will pursue her fashion career.

• Pierce Brosnan who can’t sing, sings. It is painful, comical, and hard to watch…but wait, there’s more Minnie driver finally sing.

My thoughts watching this were: the Princess was going to ditch the prince for the first opportunity to start her dress making business (#lonerprince). That was my guess, but I’ve been wrong before…I will leave it to you to find out. This felt like the most politically correct musical of all time. It is cheesy and heavy-handed; truthfully, there was some cringe moments; however, this PG film is clearly for kids. I would not call myself a Camila Cabello fan and yet I enjoyed her performance. She can break glass singing, which not my cup of tea, although she has a likable quality as an actress and clearing has musical/dancing abilities. Personally, I needed more of a break from all singing. More notably, I think there needed to be more diversity in the cast. I’m surprised there wasn’t a lot of diversity, seeing as the film itself had such progressive themes. Of the many, many, adaptation of the Cinderella story this version was not my favorite. You shouldn’t pay to see this film in the theater unless you bring appropriate aged kids. As a true 90’s kids, my favorite adaptations remain ‘Ever After,’ the ‘Cinderella’ starring Brandy, the animated ‘Cinderella’ and ‘A Cinderella Story. ‘Into The Woods’ is a better musical in my option. All in all, this movie was cute and uplifting.