The movie begins with the Queen of France, who has requested
the audience of the Brothers  Grimm,
in regards to their "telling" of the Cinderella story. She produces a glass
encrusted slipper as proof of her tale, and begins to relate the "true" version
of what happened.
Danielle, (Barrymore) a headstrong tomboy who is loved dearly
by her father, is left alone with her uncaring stepmother (Huston) and her
two daughters. After beaning the Prince in the head with an apple for stealing
one of her horses, the two seem to meet constantly after, and consequently,
fall in love. With a little help  from
not a fairy Godmother, but a renaissance artist- Leonardo Da Vinci, to be
exact, the two learn to get past class and social standing in order to follow
the call of true love.
But enough of the mush. All this would be simple enough, the
prince finds his soul mate, and after a little misunderstanding they live
happily ever after. It's too simple. What you need to make this story worthwhile
is a villain. An evildoer who will stop at nothing to get his way. Luckily,
Richard O'Brien fits the mold perfectly, playing the "lascivious" villain
Pierre Le Pieu who will stop at nothing until Danielle is at his side.
Yes, but it is worth seeing?
The movie seemed to drag a bit to me, alot of details and odds
and ends that were added that  really
didn't need to be there, but if you were able to sit through Spice World to
catch a glimpse of the Master, this one will be a piece of cake.
And for those of you who really would rather not see anything
but the Richard scenes, (maybe you have an aversion to Drew Barrymore- who
knows) they are in the last half-hour to 45 minutes of the movie. (So get
your popcorn early on)
I think that was a mistake as well. We met Danielle, her sisters
and stepmother, learned they were wenches (which you would have already guessed)
and then she meets the Prince, they hit it off, and after a while comes Pierre
to weasel his way into Danielle's life. But it seems to me that we  should
have seen him before, so that we could know the full story of what's going
on in her life, and why the Prince (besides the obvious reasons of him BEING
the prince and good-looking) is such an attractive option.
Not that I would agree with that option, but this is the movies,
and unfortunately, unless his character has a sister, Richard never gets the
girl.
That Stupid Girl!
Pierre strikes a deal with Rodmilla. All of their belongings that have gone
missing during the course of the film, it turns out, were in fact sold to
Pierre. In order to get them back, Rodmilla proposes that she trade them in
for Danielle. Danielle being Pierre's purpose anyway, he agrees.
 So
there she is, in irons, in Pierre's castle. Had this been me in this movie,
it would have ended here. No, I take that back. It would have ended in the
marketplace when Pierre comments on being well-endowed.
But good little Danielle, she prefers the Prince. So when she is taken
to Pierre's castle, she's not a happy camper. He tries to get her to agree
to his wishes (she's an idiot!) and she of course, says no. So as he creeps
up behind her and tells her about his horse that was just like her . . . "It
too just needed to be- broken"
How anyone in their right mind could resist THAT offer is beyond me. But
she reaches behind  him,
takes his dagger and proceeds to slash his cheek, grab another sword and hold
it to his chin until he gives her the key to her bonds and her freedom. Now
as much as I think that Danielle should have just said "yes", Pierre was sort
of dumb here. The scene takes place in an armory sort of room. What dumb captor
lets his captive- with their hands free- near a plethora of weapons?
Alas.
 
|
