Cinderella on Amazon Prime Video stars singer Camila Cabello in the role of the much-loved Disney princess, alongside Nicholas Galitzine as her Prince Charming.
The Amazon remake, created by Pitch Perfect's Kay Cannon takes an alternative view on the traditional fairy tale by altering the ending, changing up the character names (It's Ella and Prince Robert this time around, and the fairy godmother, Fab G is genderless), and also introducing a soundtrack of original songs and covers to tell the story.
As expected, a remake of a story that has already been told is not going to appeal to everybody and the reviews have been very mixed amongst critics.
Newsweek has a list of the five most savage things critics have said about the new Cinderella film below.
1. "Mediocre Musical"
Courtney Howard of Variety described the film as a "mediocre musical."
The film features original songs, such as "Million to One," co-written by Cabello and Scott Harris, "Dream Girl" by Idina Menzel, and several raps from The Town Crier (Ben Bailey Smith), alongside covers of "Material Girl", "Somebody to Love," and "Seven Nation Army", but for Howard, the soundtrack does not quite land.
There was some praise for the show's creative choices but in the end, Howard wrote the character development and inconsistent pacing left the film feeling "underdeveloped and overstuffed."
2. "Tropes and Archetypes Are the Engine" of 'Cinderella'
Writing for the Chicago Tribune, Katie Walsh criticized the acting and characters of Cinderella.
A cast full of star-studded names, including Idina Menzel, Billy Porter, Camila Cabello, and Pierce Brosnan, was not enough to save the film in Walsh's eyes.
Walsh wrote: "Tropes and archetypes are the engines of this film, thinly sketched characters whose development seems to have been jettisoned for endless belting."
3. "Cringe-worthy" dialogue
For Mae Abdulbaki at Screen Rant, the music was admirable and the acting somewhat average, it was actually the film's dialogue that stood out, in the worst way.
Klien penned: "Cinderella's music is enjoyable, but it's hollow, the performances flat, and the dialogue often cringe-worthy."
4. "Forgettable"
Natalia Winkelman in the New York Times described this remake of Cinderella as "forgettable" but did also describe the film as "oddly transfixing."
She then went on to criticize the acting, the dialogue, and the "asinine" narrative.
5. "Disney Channel fare with a pinch of 'Moulin Rouge'"
Brian Lowry for CNN described the latest remake of Cinderella as feeling like a "Disney Channel fare with a pinch of 'Moulin Rouge,' a colorful distraction lacking enough magic to fulfill dreams or wishes."
The film has also received some positive comments from critics. For example, Paste Magazine said the alternate take was a "good thing" and The Guardian described Cinderella as "a good-natured and easygoing revival."
In particular, praise has been given for its diverse cast, catchy soundtrack, and overall message.
This new Cinderella preaches female empowerment, very loud and very clear with Ella yearning to open her own dress shop, which in her living world of misogyny would never happen.
Despite the new take on the traditional tale, even stand-out performances from Cabello and Billy Porter were apparently not enough to save the film, with the majority of critics panning the film altogether.
So far, Cinderella is sitting at a 44 percent rating on popular review site Rotten Tomatoes and holds just a 4.3 out of 10 ratings on IMDb.
However, with that being said on Rotten Tomatoes highlights, it holds an impressive audience rating of 76 percent. So, while the critics may not be loving the remake, the majority of audiences certainly are and at the end of the day, that is all that really matters.
Cinderella is streaming on Amazon Prime now.
