Now, I like musicals. I've seen quite a few live productions, any number of movie musicals, own numerous soundtracks, and even played first clarinet in my high school's production of "The Sound of Music". I feel justified in calling myself a fan. So, as a fan of musicals, my impression of the "Into the Woods" film was... meh.
Just a qualifier: I haven't seen a stage production of "Into the Woods". I've never been able to summon up much interest in the works of Stephen Sondheim... I think I've just heard the ubiquitous "Send In The Clowns" one too many times. Sitting down to watch the movie, I was aware that it involved fairy tales, but had no knowledge of the actual plot. So the thoughts and opinions which I express are based solely on my impressions of the movie, without reference to the Broadway play. Now, I like musicals. I've seen quite a few live productions, any number of movie musicals, own numerous soundtracks, and even played first clarinet in my high school's production of "The Sound of Music". I feel justified in calling myself a fan. So, as a fan of musicals, my impression of the "Into the Woods" film was... meh. This is not to say that there was nothing about it that I liked. To start with, I'm fine with fairy tales being revisited and reinterpreted in clever and interesting ways. And I'm on board with giving them a darker- Grimmer, if you will- tone. Grimm's Fairy Tales certainly weren't all sweetness and light, and I devoured them as a child... my parents obviously weren't worried that they would scar my psyche, or whatever. I do think it's a mistake to isolate children from all knowledge of darkness and death. I know people so adverse to allowing their kids to experience it that they've lied to them about their cat getting hit by a car- instead going with the hackneyed "gone to a farm" story. And I recently sat through a children's performance of "I Know An Old Lady" (not exactly four star entertainment to begin with) where, during the final verse in which the Old Lady in question swallows a horse, the wording was changed from "she's dead, of course" to "she's full, of course". This presumably was because the Old Lady dying was considered too much for the children to handle. This is silly-anyone who knows kids knows that they're fascinated by death. Besides, it completely ruined the payoff of the song... after ending every other verse with, "perhaps she'll die", she's supposed to actually die at the end. Um. I've gotten a little off topic. To sum up: bring on the unabridged fairy tales- kids can handle them. The first part of the film moves along briskly, if not brilliantly, and contains what I consider the best scene: the duet "Agony" by the two princes at the waterfall. It is silly fun- something which is sorely needed in this musical. The acting is, for the most part, serviceable if not outstanding. There aren't any really bad performances and James Cordon as the Baker is a sympathetic- if unfortunately, occasionally pathetic- protagonist. Meryl Streep was nominated for Best Supporting Actress at the Academy Awards for her role as the Witch. She was fine, but I'm not sure that her character was award-worthy. It seems to me that any number of actresses could have donned the Witch outfit and given the required over-the-top performance. In any case, the acting and singing were fine, with the possible exception of Red Riding Hood's. Her character annoyed me on pretty much every level... she is bratty and abrasive, and her voice is grating. I don't like to blame the actress for this out of hand- having not seen the musical, this may be the way her character is supposed to be played. If so, it seems an odd choice. I think part of the problem- for me, anyway- is the songs. They are well sung, and are no doubt technically brilliant, but they aren't... memorable. There aren't any that you would walk out of the theater- or in my case, living room- humming. Perhaps on repeated listening the songs would stick in the memory, but how many people are going to bother if they didn't love them the first time around? And there aren't any that really move you, or cause you to catch your breath at their beauty, or are even just really catchy. It's a strange thing. As I mentioned above, the first part of the movie moves along at a brisk pace, though I must say that having Cinderella run away from the festival three nights in a row, whingeing on about the same insecurities each time, was getting annoyingly repetitive. But, apart from one scene which I'll talk about in a minute, the story progresses well enough, right up until its false ending. At this point, almost all of the story lines have been tied up- and the one glaring one which isn't never is resolved. I assumed it was the actual ending and thought, "Well, that wasn't so bad... a bit short, though. They should have developed the characters more, and tied up that loose end." But this was just the mid-point, and frankly, they should have quit while they were ahead. I went from thinking the film was a little too short to checking my watch every ten minutes, wondering when it was going to be over. It should have finished at the false ending, not because I necessarily need to have a happy ending, but because it actually was an ending. The second part of the movie just sort of peters out and dies. There is no sense of satisfaction or completion. Also, there is such an abrupt shift in tone that you don't have time to adjust, and from there on in, it's just... joyless. The second half of the movie just sucks all the life out of it. It's my understanding that the musical is a lot more... adult, shall we say, in tone and dialogue. This being a Disney movie, they've tried to clean it up somewhat but it's poorly done. Essentially, the movie tries to have it both ways, and ends up being neither fish nor fowl; tonally, it is all over the map. Nowhere is this more evident than in the scenes with Red Riding Hood and the Wolf. Again, I understand that on stage, Red Riding Hood is generally played by a girl in her late teens. But this Red Riding Hood is twelve or thirteen at the most, while the Wolf, played by Johnny Depp, is fifty. It is beyond creepy to have the two characters singing sexual innuendos at each other, the Wolf leering and referring to Red Riding Hood's "...flesh, pink and plump," and "scrumptious carnality." The Wolf comes off as a child molester, and an underage Red Riding Hood is portrayed as being scared but intrigued by his lasciviousness. The scene is frankly just distasteful and uncomfortable. On the other hand, Disney toned down the racy stuff in the second half, by suggesting that the Prince and the Baker's Wife merely exchange some kisses, where in the actual musical, they apparently sleep together. Now, I'm not condoning adultery in any way, but what the heck? Who, while putting together the screenplay said, "Right- the adulterer's out, but leave in the pedophile." It begs the question of just who they were trying to market this film to. .. dark is one thing, but pervy is something else entirely. Speaking of dark, the movie is- physically as well as tonally. Yes, I know that most of the film takes place at night in the woods, but after a while the darkness is just depressing and oppressive. It also has the curious effect of making the woods seem closed in and cramped, an impression furthered by the way characters keep bumping into each other in there. This makes the Baker's Wife's behaviour seem even more reprehensible than it already is... when they separate to search for Jack, she not only cheats on her husband, but she does so in what seems like close proximity to him and their child. The plot also has a serious problem, in that it sets up a story line, spends time developing it, and then drops it without resolution or even comment. This is the Rapunzel plot line: the Baker is informed that she is his sister, taken away by the Witch as a baby. And then this is just left hanging- as is Rapunzel's whole story arc. That was the first thing I said when the movie ended, "What happened to Rapunzel?" I later looked it up, and it turns out that in the musical, Rapunzel's Prince also cheats on her, and then she's killed by the Giantess. Um, O.K. Which brings me to another problem I had with the plot. Normally, as a movie/ book/ show progresses, we see character development taking place. Not in "Into the Woods" though. If anything, the characters devolve as the movie goes on- or rather, show some development, and then become worse than they started out. This might be an acceptable character arc for one of the principals, but each of the main character has exactly the same arc. Think about it: the Baker starts out as rather a sad sack, but forced into using his ingenuity to accomplish the tasks the Witch sets for him, becomes more confident and assured. But then, in the second part of the film, he's abruptly an insecure beta male again, doubting himself and his abilities. The Baker's Wife, sad and desperately wanting a child, becomes closer to her husband by helping him, and attains what she's always wanted. But then she's suddenly dissatisfied with this and risks losing it all for a fling with the prince. Jack and his mother are impoverished, but then attain a fortune, only to have their lives ruined by it. Cinderella lives in misery, but escapes to live a life as a princess, only to find it unsatisfying and wanting to escape it... need I go on? All of their stories, while not identical in detail, are exactly the same in progression and outcome. On the same note, all of the marriages in "Into the Woods" end in infidelity and/ or death. Every single one. Did no one think that perhaps even one should survive intact, if only for a change of pace? But no- The Baker's Wife cheats on her husband, and then falls over a cliff. Apparently- had the movie bothered to update us- Rapunzel's Prince cheated on her, and then she got killed by the Giantess. Cinderella's Prince cheated on her, and they agree to part amicably. Just a side note on that- really? That's all it takes to dissolve a royal marriage? And they all just walk away, no hard feelings? Really? "Happily ever after" may be a fantasy, but no more so than this stuff. Not only that, but all the other families end up destroyed too- Red Riding Hood's mother is killed by the Giantess, and Jack's mother also dies. Honestly, it's enough to make you think that Stephen Sondheim had issues about families. Hmm. I just looked up Sondheim... his father left his mother for another woman, and his mother took her anger out on Stephen, causing him to hate her. Issues, indeed... and I notice that almost every woman ends up dead by the end of the movie, all in horrible ways. Again, hmm. Another weird character twist is the one Red Riding Hood experiences late in the film. Now, up to this point, I'd pretty much decided that she was a budding sociopath. She steals from the Baker and his Wife blithely and unrepentantly, even though they have been nothing but kind to her. She shows no remorse for having led the Wolf to her grandmother's door. She certainly shows no sympathy for the Wolf when the Baker kills him- not that I blame her for that- and gleefully flaunts the cloak that her grandmother makes for her out of the Wolf's pelt. We also never see her shed a tear or express any grief at all over the death of her mother. So it comes as rather a shock when, as they prepare to trap the Giantess, out of the blue she becomes a peacenik, declaring that she doesn't know if it's right to kill the Giantess... after all, she's a person, too. Uh, yes she is- one who's running about murdering everybody in sight, including Red Riding Hood's own family. But does Cinderella- who R.R.H. confides her doubts to- use this logic to reason with her? Of course not. Instead, she tells the girl that, "You decide what's right, you decide what's good." What the dickens kind of advice is this? Red Riding Hood has already shown herself on numerous occasions to be incapable of acting wisely or unselfishly. She needs moral guidance, not hippy-dippy platitudes. Aside from any question of morality, it seems to me that all of the trouble in this tale came about by the characters deciding what was "good" for them and acting accordingly, with no regard or concern for the trouble and pain their actions would cause to others. How about encouraging her to act with honour and integrity instead? In the end, I'm not sure what Disney was aiming for with this movie. They toned it down to make it more family-friendly, but left in a scene that deliberately evokes pedophilia. They released it at Christmastime, but it's not a heartwarming or feel-good film. It's message seems to be that "happy ever after" is an illusion, love is conditional, and marriage doesn't last. Ho, Ho, Ho... Merry Christmas. Also, if the intent was to spoof fairy tales, other movies (like Shrek) have done it better. Even other Disney films such as "Enchanted", "Tangled", and "Frozen" have done a better job of turning fairy tale tropes on their heads. And they've done it wittily and without the worldly cynicism. By comparison, "Into the Woods" seems soulless and sour.
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