Of course the animation is really bad, and it's not a deep movie, but at least the writers put some thought into the story and didn't just go with the standard. (Cinderella and her still-unnamed Prince have a daughter who falls in love with a peasant, and they have to convince the king that she should be able to marry him and not be forced to marry someone of royalty. Can anyone say 'Aladdin'? Ugh.) This movie is made of three separate stories instead of just one long yawn factory like some others I can think of (Cough. Hunchback 2. Return to Neverland. Cough.) so there is a lot more opportunity for variation and character interplay. They even involve a dour governess named Prudence (very nice to see a black-clad miser in a Disney film who is stodgy and stuffy instead of thoroughly evil.) and give one of the stepsisters a story of her own, and do something with Lucifer except having him be the (you guessed it) black, evil cat who does little but chase the mice. Even Jaques gets a place in the spotlight, and there are happy endings all around as everyone falls in love. No.. not a deep movie, but it isn't boring, either. There is enough happening here to hold your interest, and that's saying a lot for a Disney sequel these days. The only real failing is that they selected quite possibly the most "edgy" and downright obnoxious Hip Hoppish singer to warble some songs that would have sounded fine otherwise.. Some of the tunes and lyrics are actually quite good, but there's so much "groove" and "attitude" going on that any charm is completely lost -- And if that's how they sound *now*, you can imagine how much this music is going to grate on the ears in a decade or so, when Hip Hop has long since gone the way of disco and vinyl and VHS... Seriously, can't anybody just SING anymore? I will be really happy when the people at Disney realize that lavishing modern sound on their (ahem) "masterpieces".. only hastens their descent into the post-modern doldrums of such films as 'Oliver & Company' and 'Aladdin'. I'm sure I'm not the first to cringe upon hearing Cinderella say 'EEYew' with all the pouty, adolescent inflection of 2001's cohort of sexed-up, belly-baring Britney wannabes.
