The last several years have bombarded viewers with all matter of live-action fairy tale reboots and reimaginings simultaneously overcooked and undercooked. What if Maleficent was actually a sweet little fairy scorned … but whose name was still Maleficent, a word that literally means to do harm? What if Snow White was actually a warrior princess? What if "Alice in Wonderland" was awful and ended with Johnny Depp doing a CGI-assisted breakdance that made you question if there was a God?

In the case of Disney’s "Cinderella," the question driving its existence is thus: What if we just left the fairy tale alone and told the freaking story of Cinderella? The answer: It’d be really, really quite delightful.

The movie doesn’t attempt to overthink or outdo its time-tested source material. There are no big twists or real surprises or a huge third act battle between CG armies. It’s simply "Cinderella," a fairly risky maneuver considering it’s next to "Romeo and Juliet" as one of pop culture’s most referenced and recycled tales. In fact, we just got a modernized version of the story not even four months ago with "Into the Woods" – another Disney production at that.

Sometimes, as it turns out, classic stories are considered classics for a reason: because they work. And when they’re brushed off and told as well as "Cinderella," they work rather spectacularly, delivering that special joy of a familiar tale brought to refreshed life, a childhood staple given its youthful glow back.

You know the story: Ella (Lily James of "Downton Abbey" steps into the glass slippers this time) is a kind and slightly magical young maiden who, after her parents kick the bucket, is left under the uncaring watch of her cruel stepmother (Cate Blanchett) and two daftly selfish stepsisters (Holliday Grainger and Sophie McShera). They’re the ones who anoint her Cinderella after she wakes up one morning with ash on her face from sleeping next to the fire.

As anyone over the age of about six can tell you, there’s a ball for the Prince (Richard Madden, Robb Stark from "Game of Thrones"), and while the courageously optimistic Ella yearns to go, her step-family is just the worst and forces her to stay home with chores. Luckily, her fairy godmother (a pert, energetic Helena Bonham Carter) transformers her into the belle of the ball and the winner of the prince’s heart. He even shows Ella his secret place where there’s a swing and, hold on a second, did I just stumble into "Fifty Shades of Grey"? No? Phew, I was concerned for the children for a moment.

Anyways, cue midnight, cue the glass slipper, cue turning the prince into the most dedicated Payless Shoes employee ever and, of course, cue the happily ever after.

Save for the youngest members of the audience, there are few surprises to be found in "Cinderella," but that doesn’t rob the story of its smile-summoning effectiveness. Director Kenneth Branagh has spent most of his career working with Shakespeare; one of the better parts of his "Thor" film, in fact, was the movie’s warring brothers storyline, treated like a great classic drama. He seems drawn to culture’s universal core stories, the conflicts and dramas we almost all grow up with. And while he never reinvents the wheel in the process, he’s good at telling tales that demonstrate why the wheel was so special in the first place. 

For one, Branagh gives the film the grand, glowing visuals you would expect from a fairy tale. Unlike many of Disney’s cluttered live-action renditions, the special effects are used sparingly and in situations that require it – say, turning a pumpkin into a carriage, for example. In their place are grand, grounded tactile sets – large dusty mansions and grand castles – filled with people. One throwaway scene features dozens of uniformed men fencing in a large hall, and while it’s brief, moments like those give "Cinderella" a sense of scope both real and ravishing – a fine theater for the sweeping emotions at play.

Dante Ferretti's production design (likely to hear its name nominated come awards shows next year) doesn’t stop there; after all, what would a Cinderella story be without fashion. The costumes – designed by three-time Oscar winner Sandy Powell – fit the characters perfectly in all meanings of the phrase.

Cinderella’s glittering ball gown is certainly worth swooning over – a gigantic ball of luminescent blue puff that moves and waves like the ocean’s most enchantingly fluffy jellyfish – while her stepsisters’ gowns and décor throughout the film are perfectly gaudy, bright bunches of neon Starburst vomit. Blanchett gets the movie’s finest threads, however: sharp, modern couture. As the Chris Weitz’s script slyly notes, "While she knew grief, she wore it wonderfully well."

Those chic clothes, however, fight a losing battle for attention against the delicious performance wearing them. Like a bull snake in an elegantly dressed china shop (don’t think too hard about that play on words) Blanchett both slithers and stampedes through "Cinderella" in the most enjoyably villainous way possible. Her withering stares and venomous insults are a devious delight. Even in the tiniest moments, she owns the screen. Arriving at the ball, she gives a perfect brief glance at the event laid out in front of her. She’s not there to dance; she’s there to devour.

Weitz and Blanchett actually do some nice character work with the role as well, hinting at the emotions cracking under her icy shell. After she overhears a conversation between Ella and her father, discussing her dearly departed mother and how the house still connects them, Blanchett’s Lady Tremaine registers the comments as an emotional pinprick, then quickly sets her sights on claiming the home for herself.

But really, a role like this is judged by how much you love to hate her, and very quickly into "Cinderella," I was hoping for a tactical meteor strike from the heavens to take her away. So mission accomplished.

As for Cinderella herself, James is a touch bland – but then again, the character is a touch bland. She’s traditionally defined by her niceness, and the adjective "nice" just isn’t the most particularly interesting. However, it’s not much of a blow against the movie. James’ performance is fittingly bright, winsome and disarmingly pleasant. She has a smile that, as Roger Ebert once said about Marketa Irglova in "Once," "makes a man want to be a better person."

In fact, that’s exactly what happens to Madden’s Prince Kit, almost unrecognizable without his "Game of Thones" stubble and scowl. The two make for a sweet Disney couple – and they dance impressively well together considering her dress is large enough to have its own gravitational pull.

That’s movie magic, but what’s even more so is how emotionally well the ball scene works. Branagh hits the moment just right: the romance, the sweeping rush, the exhilaration. Watching the two lovebirds match eyes and slowly come together with all eyes on them, my heart fluttered – and I couldn’t wait for them to inevitably reconnect later in the name of love and throwing Lady Tremaine the bird. Even though I thoroughly knew all the steps leading up to that point and all the steps to come afterward, "Cinderella" managed to make the moment – and the story as a whole – play like the first time.