Cinderella: for better or for worse, Kenneth Branagh pays as much respect to the original material in this film as he did to Shakespeare early in his film career; however, to call this work generic is somewhat disingenuous, in this day and age of re-reads that transform every tale in an epic struggle, complete with armies and battles. In that sense, but only in that sense, the old-fashioned storytelling is refreshing. Lily James and Richard Madden cut princely figures, but are not given much to play with; neither is Cate Blanchett, for that matter, but she plays a delicious villain. Sandy Powell’s costume design and Dante Ferretti’s set design may well be the true stars: colorful, rich, yet skewing away from the fantastic.