Cinderella 3 twist in time đánh giá

Review byJames (Schaffrillas) Patron

Watched Jan 18, 2023

James (Schaffrillas)’s review published on Letterboxd:

Nice of them to forget Anastasia's character arc but make up for that by giving her a different one

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• Reviewed by Stevie ★★★★★

At first, the thought of another Disney Cinderella sequel made most fans feel sick to their stomach. Once the 8-minute preview became available on the website, however, something happened. With its highly accurate color scheme and character models, people began to suspect that more effort may have been put into this particular sequel, and it may just not be as bad as it seems. I was fortunate enough to judge for myself yesterday, when I picked it up in its gleaming holomorphic slipcover case.

The story revolves around Lady Tremaine, Cinderella's evil stepmother, having gained access to the Fairy Godmother's magic wand one year after Cinderella's wedding and using it to turn back time so that the glass slipper fits Cinderella's stepsister, Anastasia, instead. Lady Tremaine then cast a spell on Prince Charming so he thought Anastasia was actually the girl he danced with. As a result, much of the story revolved around Anastasia and her desire to be loved, in the same way that the Aladdin sequel, Return of Jafar, revolved more around Iago's moral turn-around than it did the central characters. Fortunately, Anastasia was made a much more interesting and dynamic character in this movie, so it was intriguing to follow her story, especially since she seemed to act more like herself than Cinderella and Prince Charming did.

A lot of the characters' personalities seemed enhanced by the personalities of the other characters their voice artists played. For instance, Cinderella was voiced by Jennifer Hale, who did the voice of Felicia Hardy, a.k.a. Black Cat, in the animated Spider-Man series. For those of you who are not familiar with that series, Felicia's character was clever, slightly spoiled, and very independent. This was the exact personality that Ms. Hale brough to Cinderella's character, even though it differs somewhat from the way Cinderella acted in the original film. Another thing to note is that her voice is significantly higher than that of Ilene Wood, the original Cinderella, but this is only really bothersome when she sings.

Christopher Daniel Barnes, who did the voice of Prince Eric in The Little Mermaid, played Prince Charming in this film, and Charming seemed to get an Eric-like makeover as a result. He looked more like Eric with a haircut than he looked like himself. Plus, he acted somewhat more masculine but was a hopeless romantic at heart, very much like Prince Eric's personality. When the spell was cast on him to forget Cinderella, the exact same effect happened to his eyes as the effect when Ursula cast the spell on Eric to think she was Ariel.

Anastasia's voice was done by Tress MacNeille, who voiced the hyperactive but lovable Dot from Animaniacs. As soon as I realized who she was, I kept seeing Dot every time Anastasia talked. Though not quite as insane as her animaniac counterpart, Anastasia was the punchline of many physical jokes and gags, which did make the voice seem somewhat fitting for her. Also notable about her character is how easily relatable and sympathetic she had become, making her very likable in this film.

The story was well-paced overall, and there was just enough excitement and intensity in each scene to make you want to find out what would happen next. Most of the film was taken very seriously, and the characters talked softly and with lots of emotion. However, there were constant cartoon gags scattered throughout, which didn't quite seem to fit with the tone the film was trying to create. For instance, there were at least three underpants gags that I can think of, and two gags in which a character quickly zoomed offstage with a cartoon sound effect used mainly for Warner Brothers characters such as the Roadrunner. I suppose they did this because they didn't want the film to be too serious since it is, after all, a cartoon but most of the gags were in bad taste and do not help the film along at all. Fortunately, they were quite easy to ignore.

The animation was mostly flawless, but Cinderella and the Prince had some major anime-style light reflections added to their eyes to the point where it seemed a little ridiculous. I guess all the glowing specks of light are there to reveal emotion, but Cinderella was able to convey her emotions just fine in the original with small, simple eyes. At least the colors were all exactly as they should be, and Lady Tremaine looked excellent.

Speaking of Lady Tremaine, I was a little afraid she was going to go over the top as a villain in this movie because of how active a role she takes in reversing time. It's against her nature to be such an active villain and work so hard to unleash her evil plans, but fortunately she was just as subtle and menacing in this film as she was in the first. For instance, when Cinderella took the wand back, Lady Tremaine sent the guards after her instead of chasing her herself, which was something very in character for this particular Disney villain.

The movie was a musical, but fortunately none of the songs made my ears bleed like some of the past sequel songs. In fact, if I watched the movie enough times, I could even see myself growing to like some of them. They weren't extremely catchy, but they had decent melodies and were made to go with the story and not teach some cheesy moral, like those in Belle's Enchanted World. The only thing that bothered me was how high-pitched Cinderella sang, and she harmonized with the prince in one line doing the high part of the harmony while he did the low part. That is not how Cinderella sings with Prince Charming. He's a tenor, and she's an alto. Of course, that's a pretty minor complaint and I find it best to think of Cinderella as a different person entirely in some of the scenes because it makes the movie more enjoyable and easier to watch.

Overall, Cinderella III: A Twist in Time is definitely one of the best efforts at a Disney sequel. The film is cute and emotional, and a lot of fun to watch. Cinderella and Prince Charming are both a bit off in appearance and personality, but it is interesting to see Anastasia's growth as a character and to follow the twists in the plot to find out what will happen next. Some other things I loved about this DVD were the hilarious paintings they show during the end credits and the beautiful menu, which reminds me of a professional video a couple would get made for their wedding.