Into The Woods (my review) Viewers beware: This is a film adaptation of a Broadway musical. If you go into it expecting a normal movie, you will be taken off guard by the copious amounts of singing. That being said, I went into this movie as a fan of the Broadway production (With Bernadette Peters as the Witch), and it is actually my 3rd favorite musical. This means that I had high hopes for the movie, and I was half expecting to them to butcher play meanwhile still expecting a wonderful movie. In the end, Disney delivered a wonderful movie- with a number of major let-downs. If you have never seen the stage version, and you like a good musical, you will like it. If you, like I am, are a fan of the stage version, you have to overlook the “creative licenses” that Disney took with the script. Let me start with the good. For the most part, the cast was AMAZING. I am a Meryl Streep fan to the core. While she had an interesting and beautiful portrayal of the Witch, she didn’t hold a candle to Bernadette Peters. I don’t want to take away from what Streep did because it was not bad. It was just different. Different and beautiful. Emily Blunt made a beautiful Baker’s Wife, as did Anna Kendrick as Cinderella. I would venture to say that I liked these characters better than the stage play. I felt that the film did a better job of going deeper into these characters and giving the audience insight into why they did what they did. The cast also consisted of many talented vocalists. The music blew me away. Each time one of my many favorite songs came onto the surround sound, I felt a wave of relief. Disney hadn’t cut out any of the songs. For those who love the stage version, be on the lookout for “Agony.” I feel that this song will become iconic to the movie. I always love when the acting during a song vies for the audience’s attention over the actual song itself. “Agony” accomplished just that! Two pampered palace brats competing over who’s agony is worse- while expressing their agony atop a waterfall at sunset, with the palace looming in the distance. The overall spectacle of the movie was breathtaking. This is usually the part of a movie that I overlook. I will take a good story over a good looking movie any day, but Disney succeeded in working up a masterpiece collage of scenery, costume, and CGI to perfectly compliment an already wonderful story. At first this bothered me. I felt that it betrayed the simplicity of the stage production. Soon enough, I realized that I actually loved it, and I was just being a miserly theatre purist. For the other theatre purists out there, I would like to give accolades to Coleen Atwood, the movie’s costume designer, who deserves Academy awards for best costuming. I am going to give mention the story itself. It was both good and bad. In the first half (act 1), it stuck, almost religiously, to the original. Then, the second half (act 2), the story erupted. I feel like they lost traction when the screenwriters were trying to close the intermission gap in the play’s script. A play can jump ahead in time after intermission. A movie does not do that too easily. For that, I give them grace (because it will not be noticed by the movie viewer who has not seen the play) For those of us who have seen the play, we will sit there trying to recognize the story we love. Now for the bad. I think that the worst thing about this movie was Johnny Depp. Don’t get me wrong. I am a Depp fan. I like his acting in many movies, but sometimes it just feels like he is trying too hard to be weird. The Wolf is supposed to be a suave predator- not a creeper (at this point, I am tempted to rand about how the script is written to have The Wolf and Cinderella’s Prince are supposed to be played by the same actor, but I will spare you. Besides, that is something that only fans of the stage version will even care about). And I am just going to come out and say it. Depp is not a singer. Sure, his raw throaty voice “worked” for “Sweeny Todd,” but that show was built around his character. It was a dark and demented character that set the tone for a movie with those same themes. In “Into the Woods,” he just felt completely misplaced. It is a miniscule part in the grand scheme of the show, but I honestly think that Disney threw Depp in there, just so they could sell tickets with his name on the poster. Throughout the movie, I could feel that the story was originally designed for the stage. In the stage version, many scenes happen simultaneously or weave in and out of each other with an intricate set of entrances and exits. It creates a whimsical rhythm to the story. The movie accommodates the rapid jumping from story to story by abruptly chopping from one scene to the next. It was still tied together with the beautiful score, so it was still good- just not magical. I thought this was just a vibe that my ultra-critical eye was picking up, but my wife (who is the least picky movie-goer) also felt the same way. The rest of my let-downs are only let-downs if you are a fan of the stage version, so I will spare details and list them quickly. *Also, there spoilers for people who haven’t seen the play.* -I wanted a wooden cow. -The beans didnt ting -I wish the narrator had been killed, or seen for that matter. -Where was the crazy old man? He was quite important. -I liked the way Jack’s mom died in the play better. -Too much giant. -Rapunzel did not get enough attention. Overall, 4 ½ stars out of 5. I will own this. Just don’t go into it expecting an exact replica of the play. And plug your ears when The Wolf has his 15 seconds in the limelight.
Posted on: Mon, 29 Dec 2014 04:46:59 +0000