Review: Into the Woods - The Movie

WARNING: THERE WILL BE SPOILERS! TURN BACK NOW IF YOU WANT TO WATCH THE MOVIE AND BE SURPRISED!  

Before I even begin this review, I'll admit that I'm a fan of the theatrical version of Into the Woods. Of all the musicals I've seen, I'd probably put this in my top 5, so I'm coming at the movie with a biased point of view.

Into the Woods has this super premise. It takes a few fairy tales and twists them together. The first half is the stories were accustomed to and the second half is what happens after happily ever after. The last half of the play is very dark and somewhat grim, but not without it's moments.

My understanding is that the story that anchors the others, the baker and his wife, was created for the play, but the fairy tales that everyone knows are Little Red Riding Hood, Jack and the Beanstalk, Rapunzel, and Cinderella. Since I loved the premise, I bought tickets to see the touring company when it came to Minnesota--all the original Broadway cast members were there with the exception of the girl who played Red Riding Hood and Bernadette Peters who played the witch.

When I first heard they were making a movie of the play, I was excited. Until I learned that there were going to be changes. The reviews I saw when the movie was released were mixed, and I waited for it to come on cable. So what did I think?

It wasn't bad, but it didn't have the same magic as the play.

Things I loved: Chris Pine can sing! And he made a terrific Prince Charming. His duet of Agony was one of my favorite scenes in the movie. I liked all the special effects that made the movie come to life in a way it couldn't in the theater. Beanstalks to the sky, getting to see the giant that was causing all the trouble in the second half, and I actually liked how they managed to eliminate the narrator's role, which was prominent in the play.

But there were things I definitely missed. In the play there's a reprise of Agony by the two princes. I loved it! It's one of the few truly funny moments in the second act and it was badly needed amid the grimness. I definitely missed it in the movie.

Meryl Streep is a brilliant actress, but Bernadette Peters owns the role of the witch and I would have preferred to see her recreate the role. Since she and Streep are nearly the same age, I don't see why she couldn't have played the part in the movie as well. As much as I enjoy Meryl Streep, she couldn't live up to Peters portrayal of the witch, IMO.

In the play, Rapunzel is killed by the giant leading to one of the most poignant songs in the second act when the witch mourns the loss of he daughter. In the movie, Rapunzel leaves with her prince, abandoning the only mother she knew. This severely undermined the emotion of the song/scene IMO and lacked the sense of desolation from the play.

The other thing that kind of bugged me as I watched the movie was how dark all the scenes were. Not as far as tone, I mean the lighting. There were some parts that were difficult to see because it was too dark. Yes, I get that most of the story takes place at night in the woods, but couldn't they have managed just one more amplitude of light?

As you can see, most of my ticks against the movie are all in comparison to the play. If I didn't know the play, what would I think of the movie? I think I would have liked it a lot, but not loved it. Which is kind of a step above where I am now.

But I do know the play and so while I liked the movie version well enough that I'll probably buy it, it didn't leave me enthused. It was, however, a beautiful production and I enjoyed the richness of the scenery and the costumes. I just wish it had been a little more like the play.

My rating 3 stars out of 5.
Bottom line: If you like fairy tales and musicals and if you haven't seen the theatrical version, it's an enjoyable way to spend a couple of hours.

Into the Woods

Of all the plays and musicals I've seen, Into the Woods remains one of my all-time favorites. It's a threading together of a few different fairy tales—Cinderella, Rapunzel, Jack and the Beanstalk and Little Red Riding Hood primarily although a few others get mixed in.

Since everyone knows the fairy tales, I won't go into too much detail about the play. All the different fairy tale people run into each other in the woods. The cow Jack needs to sell? He trades it to the baker for magic beans. The baker's wife ends up with Cinderella's slipper. And Rapunzel's prince and Cinderella's prince try to out-do each other with how difficult it is to woo their woman.

While the first half is all lighthearted and humorous, the second act is considerably darker. This gets into what happens after happily ever after. I have mixed emotions about the last half of the play. On the one hand, I can appreciate skewering the fairy tales, but on the other hand, I like happy endings. I did love the first act, though, without reserve.

The music and lyrics are outstanding. I love Agony, both versions of it with the two princes trying to top each other on how tough they have it. I also love the The Last Midnight when the witch talks about finding someone to blame being more important to the humans than dealing with the giantess. And I Know Things Now sung by Red Riding Hood who isn't quite as naive as she was before meeting the wolf. "Isn't it nice to know a lot...and a little bit not."

Into the Woods was recorded with the Broadway cast and is available on DVD, which means if you're interested, you can rent it/buy it and not need to wait for the play to be staged in your city. I like the DVD version, but there's always energy to watching a live performance that isn't captured on disk.

Highly recommended

Culture Talk

I found out yesterday that the Pompeii exhibit at the Science Museum of Minnesota is open. I'd heard this was coming, but I was on deadline for In Twilight's Shadow and I completely forgot about it until I saw the article in the paper yesterday.

There was some other Pompeii exhibit that went through Chicago like a year or two ago. I heard about it after the fact, though, and hadn't gotten the chance to drive down to see it. I was disappointed by that because it sounded really interesting, but driving to St. Paul is much better than going to Chicago. :-) So it's all working out just fine. I'll be waiting to go until after the kids are back in school. :-) I'm thinking after Labor Day sometime.

I also discovered yesterday that the Guthrie Theater is doing a production of 1776. That's one of my favorite musicals ever! I even own the movie on DVD as well as having a couple of copies on VHS tape.

The Guthrie used to send me a mailing every year to let me know what shows are playing for the season, but I didn't get one this time around. :-( And when I went to check ticket availability on the theater website, all that dates I wanted to attend were marked "limited." :-( Guess I won't get to see 1776 live. That's a huge disappointment.

I found out about 1776 because the Guthrie Theater is on MySpace and sent out a bulletin. Now that's modern theater!

Revisions continue and I think they're going well enough. I'm actually thinking I might, just might, end up with enough time to do a straight read through for nitpicky smoothing stuff. I'm keeping my fingers crossed. I have one more big, time consuming issue to tackle, and if that ends up being more difficult than I anticipate, that extra time might disappear.

Wake Me Up In April

It's funny how weather can affect my moods and energy level. In the summer when it's nice and warm, I can wake up and feel determined, industrious and ready to tackle mountains. In the winter when it's cold and/or snowy, I just want to sleep. It makes me wonder if once, long ago in the predawn times if humans hibernated. If this desire for extra sleep was simply limited to me, I'd say it's a personal quirk, but I know a lot of people who really spool down in the winter. When the vernal equinox rolls around, it's like people here in Minnesota come out of stasis.

Take my plans for today. I'm going to my chapter meeting and I really should wash some bedding and clean the house. I also need to write. Right now, though, what sounds good is a nap. :-)

I think the bears have it right. They go to sleep in fall and wake up when the weather warms. No dealing with temperatures in the negative numbers, no shoveling snow out of the cave--just wake me when it's spring. Sounds like a plan to me.

I'll go into my cave right after New Year's (the holidays make early winter seem okay, but by mid-January, I'm done with winter) and come out when I can wear my light jacket again.

What's bringing these thoughts on? Aside from the fact that I'm still really sleepy, of course. It's 1 degree here this morning. The wind chill takes us to -10. A few days ago it was in the mid 30s. I am so ready for spring!

My book on Polynesian mythology arrived yesterday. I only glanced through it real quickly since I'm not allowed to play with my new characters just yet. It looks like it's going to have exactly the kind of information I was looking for, and I was right--it is a textbook. It's so cool what some colleges have for class offerings. My university didn't have any of the really intriguing classes like the ones where they study television shows, but we had Intro to Theater where we were required to go to 3 plays and write reviews where we had to cover certain criteria. I didn't particularly enjoy 2 of the plays I saw, but I loved The Importance of Being Ernest.

I had a love for theater, though, long before I took that class. I can't really attribute it to my parents since I was always the one begging to go to a play. This is one of the truly great things about living in Minneapolis--our theater. Minneapolis has acting talent that easily rivals what I've seen on Broadway. Our Guthrie Theatre is nationally renown, maybe even world renown, and we have lots of big productions travel through town. We've even had shows destined for Broadway start here before going to NYC. It makes me one happy camper, although, I haven't had much time for the theater in a while now.

Musical theater, though, is probably my favorite, although anything by Shakespeare is a close second. (Favorite Shakespeare play is Much Ado About Nothing because I love the romance between Beatrice and Benedick.)

Anyway, before I run through and review all the plays I can remember seeing in my life, I suppose I should logoff and take a shower. The nap sounds better, though.