《Steps》(Steps) Movie review: The hated sister also wants to be accepted

Cinderella’s stepsister also has her own story.《Stepsister》(Steps) puts the always unpleasant sister in the fairy tale at the center, telling why she is incompatible with the people around her, and how she can get closer to her family again.What's on Netflix film critic Rendy Jones gave the film a score of 4 out of 5; in this review, what the author appreciates most is the concreteness of the characters and the step-by-step process of repairing the sister relationship.

Lilith in the film is voiced by Huang Ali, and Margot is voiced by Xu Weilun.The sisters are always compared to the perfect Cinderella: Amanda Seyfried's Cinderella is so beloved that even the animals are willing to do everything for her.Lilith then faced the world in punk and gothic attire.A misunderstanding at the royal ball makes her discover that behind Cinderella's perfect life, there is a fairy godmother voiced by Bette Midler who is arranging it.She snatches the wand, and the chaos that ensues includes Margot turning into a frog and the wand falling into the hands of the bully Priscilla.The girl, voiced by Nikki Glasser, wants to take control of the kingdom, and the three sisters must stop Priscilla before midnight to get the confused prince, voiced by Daniel Radcliffe, to put a glass slipper on Lilith.

The animation was tweaked several times during development, eventually changing from a musical to an action comedy.The writing team includes Ava Tramer, James Madejski, Jen Chuck, Dana Schwartz and Felicia Ho, and the story team also includes comedy duo Riki Lindhome and Kate Micucci of Garfunkel and Oates.Jones believes that this trade-off is worth it. This group of creators has found a new way to tell familiar stories.

The review started with the trend of fairy tale adaptations twenty years ago.After Shrek became popular, family animations have added modern jokes and post-modern humor. There are follow-up works such as Happily N'Ever After, Shrek the Third, which failed to continue the performance of its predecessors, and Hoodwinked!, which the author believes is underestimated.Disney's Tangled and Frozen also responded to this change.Jones affirms that the latter has a cultural impact through sisterhood, but feels that there are still gaps in character writing; in the author's opinion, Lilith and Cinderella have more sufficient depth of character than Anna and Elsa, and Steps' depiction of relationship repair is also more effective.

The film takes a long time to retell Cinderella's experience from Lilith's perspective, and also shows the racial discrimination she suffered.In it, Jones saw the isolation that immigrants feel when integrating into a majority-white community: Lilith wants to be accepted, but is used to using caustic humor to protect herself, hiding her childhood trauma behind emotional barriers.Co-director Alyce Tzue also has a Chinese background, and the author believes that the film's depiction of this situation is sincere.Lilith both resists a world that refuses to acknowledge her and longs for someone to treat her as a whole person, something that reminds Jones of Shrek's treatment of loneliness.

The restoration between the sisters takes up most of the story.Cinderella needs to realize her white privilege, and at the same time, her dissatisfaction with Lilith always calling her “Cinderella” also has real reasons.The film accommodates this grievance, but does not absolve her of the responsibility for facing the hurt of the past.Jones believes that the most powerful part of the film is in these interactions that are both funny and dare to touch painful areas, and the dubbing of Ali Huang and Seyfried also make the relationship come alive.

The art made the author a little uncomfortable at first: the protagonist's appearance is cute, but has an obvious blocky feel.As the film unfolds, the punk temperament formed by geometric curves and sharp contours gradually becomes attractive, and the steampunk flavor is added after entering the orc zone.Jones compares it to a mix of the game Psychonauts and the 2000s Barbie video movie, with the simplified look still allowing for rich, funny expressions.

The author especially likes the prince's ridiculous reason for not recognizing Cinderella, and Priscilla's henchman Roderick.The character voiced by Peter Dinklage wants to be a responsible “Bodyguard Dad”, rather than just being a bodyguard for an ambitious bad girl.The bickering between Lilith and Cinderella also made Jones rank this film among the funniest comedies of this year in his eyes.

However, according to Jones, traces of multiple screenwriters still remain in the structure.It took a lot of time to set up, but after the second act started, it rushed to the action scenes one after another. The story and steampunk environment lacked room to stay.The example given by the author is to quickly switch from the motorcycle troll paragraph to Lilith's love interest-the dashing troll inventor Gef, voiced by Young Mazino, whose voice reminds the author of Keanu Reeves.The opening also has Lilith talking to the camera, a design similar to MTV's breaking the fourth wall, with too much explanation, and the ending does not respond in the same way.

Jones ultimately approved of the closing method, saying that the third act was delicate, accurate, and emotionally impactful, even more adventurous than Ray Gunn and contemporary Disney animation.The author places this affirmation in the current racial discussion: opportunities for people of color have decreased, and some parents are no longer as active in discussing race relations with their children as they were in the past; in a social atmosphere that opposes diversity, equality, and inclusion policies, this story allows marginalized children to find belonging, and also allows white audiences to face responsibility.The author believes that these contents are also worthy of viewing by adults.

Jones recommended the film to family audiences, especially sisters, and also listed the films for those who like similar works: Nimona (2023), Hoodwinked! (2005), Shrek (2001) and Shrek 2 (2004), TurningRed, 2022), 《Frozen》(Frozen, 2013).

《Steps》(Steps) premiered in New York on November 8 and willNovember 20Available globally on Netflix.