You must go to Cinderella’s ball

Adapted from Disney’s classic 1950 animated musical, Kenneth Branagh’s live action fairytale romance doesn’t skimp on the period detail.

Sandy Powell’s luxurious costumes, Dante Ferretti’s opulent set designs and Patrick Doyle’s sweeping orchestral score conjure a magical world of unerring love in which even we gasp at the gargantuan splendour of the grand ball where the prince must choose his wife.

While this Cinderella unquestionably dazzles the senses, screenwriter Chris Weitz is shackled to fond memories of the hand-drawn film and consequently, he has no room for flourishes of originality.

The plot arc is predetermined, the ugly stepsisters don’t hack off their heels or toes to squeeze into a misplaced glass slipper, an d Helen a Bonham Carter ’s fairy godmother isn’t quite as eccentric as she or we would like as she engineers the film’s best set-piece with a flick of her wand.

Ella ( Lily James) i s consigned to the kitchen by her vindictive stepmother Lady Tremaine ( Cate Blanchett) and brattish stepsisters, Anastasia (Holliday Grainger) and Drizella (Sophie McShera).

When the name- call i ng becomes too f ri ghtful, she escapes on horseback and catches the eye of the dashing Prince (Richard Madden), who must pick a bride at the behest of the dying King (Derek Jacobi). So the Prince throws a lavish ball where Ella makes her grand entrance then disappears at midnight.

Cinderella will enchant a generation of girls, who dream of donning the tiara of a Disney princess. James and Madden are an attractive screen pairing, while Blanchett draws inspiration from Joan Crawford as the wicked queen.