This is
a movie that had me feeling excited and apprehensive in almost equal
amounts. It’s a show I love so much that
I was invested in seeing it done right – no small task for a movie
musical. As information started to come
out and a number of the casting choices were so unobvious and intriguing
(although, after I heard that Alan Cumming was originally considered for the
wolf, it was so perfect that I couldn’t get it out of my head,) I knew that,
regardless of how it turned out, I wasn’t going to miss it for anything.
As it
happens, the movie is pretty terrific.
Is it as good as some of the productions I’ve seen? No, but it’s better than a lot of movie
musicals. It’s properly cinematic; some
adaptations fall into a trap of basically just filming the stage show and
dumping it onscreen, which doesn’t work for the medium. Others, however, seem embarrassed about the
fact that they’re musicals and shoehorn in “excuses” to sing, which usually
winds up feeling far more ridiculous than simply being a musical. Luckily, Into
the Woods knows what it is and owns up to it quite readily.
Right
from the start, with the intricately-lyriced opening number, featuring layer
upon layer of overlapping melodies, you can tell you’re in good hands. The camera flits deftly from scene to scene,
weaving the different locales together as the voices bridge the distance. From there, we largely have a very capable,
very thoughtful movie musical. I
especially applaud the devices used to break up the visuals on monologue songs
like “Giants in the Sky” and “I Know Things Now.”
The art
direction is terrific – the film looks gorgeous, and the magic is especially
well done. I like that, while we get
dramatic wind effects, there aren’t a ton of bright lights or flashes of
color. Rather, things tend more to burst
in and out of being. It’s a simple but
highly effective technique that feels very naturalistic. When the baker says, “It’s the witch from
next door,” you can really buy this strange, sinister woman as both an
enchantress and a neighbor.
My
biggest gripe, predictably, is what’s not there. I know some things have to be cut for time,
but the reprise of “Agony” shouldn’t be one of them. In addition to being hysterical, it sets up
what happens with Cinderella’s prince later in the film. Also, “No More” is quite possibly my favorite
of the whole shebang and, even without the mysterious man in the movie, I was
gutted not to see it included. Finally,
the movie just feels a bit toothless compared to the show. It still has an edge to it, and some of the
dark humor and moral uncertainty is certainly there, but it definitely has
fewer stakes and wades less into questions of right and wrong.
My
votes for film MVPs go to James Corden and Emily Blunt as the baker and his
wife. Corden grounds the film with his
funny, sincere performance as an ordinary man in over his head, and Blunt is
fantastic as a peasant reaching for something better in her life (“Moments in
the Woods” is a highlight of the movie.)
Runner-up would be Anna Kendrick’s beautiful turn as Cinderella, but
there’s a lot of talent to go around.
Warnings
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