Sneakerella (2022)

Sneakerella (2022)

3/10

Starring

Chosen Jacobs

Lexi Underwood

Devyn Nekoda

Bryan Terrell Clark

 

Directed by Elizabeth Allen Rosenbaum

 

I don’t think Disney can ever get tired of the Cinderella character. They seem to have made many reimaginings of this character, from their first animated movie about it in 1950 to their first live-action adaptation in 2015, and now we have this one. This version focuses on sneakers and tries to be real. I use the word "tries" because Disney is not going to work on anything Cinderella without a little magic getting involved. I felt the movie was average at best, but I think it’s because movies like this aren’t for me.

The long and short of it is that this movie is made for a particular audience—those who like musical comedies and are young. There is a Disney age group that fits this kind of movie, and they will like it. I, for one, felt the movie tried in its reimagining, and since I’m not one for musical comedies, I found myself skipping past many of the numbers to get to the plot.

The plot is about a young man named El who lives with his stepfather and two stepbrothers. His mother owned a shoe shop in Queens, New York, and his stepfather moved there to manage the shop when she died. As Cinderella stories go, the man didn’t understand El’s passion for sneakers, and instead of trying, he just shuts him down anytime El tries to show him he can do more than just watch the shop.

His brothers are cruel, and while his stepfather isn’t patient enough to understand his stepson, the stepbrothers do everything they can to make El’s life difficult and his work tedious.

El’s best friend is a young lady named Sami, who invites El to come with her to a shoe drop-off. There, they meet Kira. El and Kira immediately have chemistry. When the three get into trouble and are being chased, Sami takes off on her skateboard, leaving El and Kira to take the train to Queens together. El shows Kira around, telling her about his shoe-making dream, and she falls for him, as he does for her.

But El has to run off to his shop and leaves without getting Kira’s number.

Later, Sami finds out who Kira is—she’s the daughter of a sneaker tycoon, a man looking for new designs. Sami convinces El to go to Sneakers-Com, and with a little magic from El’s gardener friend, they make it. There, El and Kira meet again, with sparks flying everywhere.

How matters play out and how the Cinderella story comes into play in this movie is something I believe your children, who are Disney fans, would love to see on Disney+. Maybe, though, you, the adult, should watch something else.