I’m no fan of Disney princesses, but there was something about the live adaptation of “Cinderella” that caught my attention. It wasn’t what they did that made it stand out, it was what they didn’t do.

The movie was fundamentally unchanged, albeit with live acting. Today, audiences are more likely to see mature live adaptations of fairy tales that, feature more three-dimensional characters in an effort to do away with stereotypical heroes and villains and so on. “Cinderella” breaks this trend, and that is what makes it so –forgive my pun – charming.

Of course, there are a few tweaks here and there. The beginning of the story, which was limited to just narration in the animated classic, was very elaborate over the span of 20 minutes. During this time, viewers saw her parents treat her with great love and care. This was necessary to the film as a whole, but the message can be summed up in four words: “Have courage. Be kind.”

The title character lives by these words throughout the film, even when her stepmother and stepsisters are so cruel to her. Yet, there comes a point when her courage fails her, after which her fairy godmother appears.

I didn’t really know what to make of Cate Blanchett’s performance as the stepmother. The character in the animated film was certainly cruel, letting her daughters rip up Cinderella’s dress. Blanchett’s character, on the other hand, did the ripping here, but the real cruelty was that the dress originally belonged to her mother. Blanchett didn’t disappoint, but she wasn’t anywhere near as iconic as the stepmother from yesteryear.

Then there’s the dashing prince. He, too, hardly changed from the animated classic, however, he had more personality. He didn’t think highly of himself and after meeting Cinderella, he couldn’t stop thinking about her. That might sound pretty cliché, but I can let that slide.

Cinderella wasn’t simply a passive heroine waiting for her prince to come and save her. While it appears to be that way throughout the film, she was actively kind to everyone. While it isn’t the kind of proactive maneuver our modern culture values, Cinderella eventually reaches a point where she decides to stand up to her stepmother.

This film wasn’t completely immune to the revisionist movement with big-screen fairy tales, but it didn’t succumb to the mature, character-warping nature that we’ve grown accustomed to. Yet rather than looking outdated as an odd one out, “Cinderella” shined brightly in our day and age. It was an optimistic film with childlike faith. Cap it off with an anthem proclaiming the film’s main theme and we have a winner on our hands.

But to be honest, there are only four words you need to take away from this film to really grasp what it’s all about, four words that summed up the essence of the film and said all we needed to know about it: “Have courage. Be kind.”

To read the full review, head to Zach’s blog “The Reluctant Critic” at http://reluctantcritic.blogspot.com/