"Be Careful What You Wish For"
Based on the Broadway musical by Stephen Sondheim, Into the Woods twists the stories of Rapunzel, Little Red Riding Hood, Cinderella and Jack and the Beanstalk, intertwining with an original story of a childless baker and his wife. The baker (James Corden) and his wife (Emily Blunt) find out that they were cursed by an un-neighborly witch (Meryl Streep) that they wouldn't be able to have any children. The Witch promises them that the curse can be undone if they get the following: Jack's (Daniel Huttlestone) cow, Red Riding Hood's (Lilla Crawford) cape, Rapunzel's (McKenzie Mauzy) hair, and Cinderella's (Anna Kendrick) slipper.
Being a Broadway musical, all the acting and singing are absolutely terrific. The stand-out of the whole movie, though, is Streep. She plays her part incredibly well. And she has a fantastic voice to boot, singing through the best songs of the movie ("Stay With Me", "Witch's Lament", "Last Midnight" and Part 1 of "Children Will Listen") with power and emotion. Blunt brings a relate-able and fun attitude to the Baker's Wife, with a nice amount of humor peppered in. Corden brings heart and an appreciable sense of sincerity to the Baker.
Crawford and Huttlestone bring innocence and fun to the roles of Jack and Red. Kendrick (along with her fantastic, pitch perfect voice) makes a terrific Cinderella. Interestingly a very good singer, Chris Pine portrays the deceptive and humorous aspects of the Prince with a somewhat crazy, but scene-stealing attitude. Besides that, Tracey Ullman is terrific and hilarious as Jack's Mom, Christine Baranski gets the Stepmother right, and Johnny Depp's brief role in the movie works OK too (though his voice seems the most auto-tuned out of everyone).
The costumes are very beautiful, and stand a chance at getting awards season attention. The production design is also good and literally brings the musical to life. The songs, with the exception of an annoying one or two and one with a mixed message (but more on that later), are fantastic. My favorites are "Witch's Lament", "Stay with Me", "Agony", the Prologue, the Finale, and "On the Steps of the Palace". The cinematography is good. And, in a refreshing way, while the few visuals here and there work very well, especially for fairy tales, its good to have one that focuses more on the story and actors, rather than the visual effects.
On the downside, one message of deciding what's right and good (in the wrong way) unfortunately is thrown in with one song (though, to be fair, it's in the original musical too ["No One is Alone"]). Also, the pacing of the movie becomes a little too choppy (and a bit into "panic mode") when we get to the twist in the story. Thankfully, the actors and a few of the songs save it, and the overall movie isn't ruined by this. This makes the first hour and 15 minutes of the movie is more smoothly-paced and entertaining. Some upsetting and very dark moments.
As a fan of musicals and theater, I got excited when Disney decided to adapt Into the Woods. The cast they also got for the movie excited me even more. By the time the final product came to theaters, I got the soundtrack for Christmas (and enjoyed a lot of the songs on it). But, as I read more into it, I found out that the musical itself is very un-Disney, and in many ways, that is very true. Most of these Disney deviations, of sorts, do work, but some aren't easy to watch either.
Unlike other Disney movies, which encourage wishing on stars and "love at first sight", Into the Woods explores much more mature themes. And some of it, for a fairy tale, is surprisingly insightful. It lets us know that despite our constant wishing, all choices (or, in this allegorical sense, magic) come with a price and don't always result in good things. It consistently warns us that all decisions come with consequences, and that we should be careful of what we say and do, especially when it comes to adults and their influence on children. In the musical (and movie), characters suffer (sometimes very dark) consequences for making bad choices.
I've mentioned the terrific performances of the cast, as well as several top-notch production qualities and the refreshing lack of eye-popping visual effects. But, on top of that, it is actually quite interesting and refreshing to see a fairy tale (of sorts) that looks at the magic and all the "happily ever after"-related material, and then takes a double take and looks at it for what it really is. Pure fantasy. Happily ever after does exist (especially for Christians), but not without the problems, controversies, and situations that life brings along the way.
But, imagine my surprise, after seeing Woods, that there was quite a bit of negative reception I heard from multiple sources I knew very well.
Agreeing with some of these sources' comments though, when I also mean more mature themes, this "Disney" movie is also not very kid-friendly (especially in comparison to a lot of Disney's other fairy tales). Two characters do cheat on their spouses (in a lighter way than the musical actually addresses it, but its still there). Also, the songs the Wolf and Little Red sing towards the beginning may hint at something "more" than just eating the little girl with the cape (and her grandmother too) and escaping. Finally, the death of a few characters and a few other suggestive situations may not make for a pleasant experience for parents with impressionable minds.
In the end, while its certainly far from the best thing Disney has released, the strong amount of insight, fantastic performances and music, and the right touch of fairy tale whimsy make Into the Woods worth the price of admission (for teens and adults).
Score: 7.9/10
Content Problems Families Should Be Aware Of:
Language: One of the stepsisters thoughtlessly interjects "G--!". Realizing she lost her powers, the Witch exclaims "oh my g--!". In the soundtrack, the Baker's wife interjects "oh g--" too once.
Adult Content: Quite a bit of suggestive-ism in these woods. The Wolf can come off somewhat to adults as a pedophile and a child molester, but the two songs and lyrics from that situation will sail over the heads of children. The Baker's Wife and the Prince cheat on their spouses and kiss repeatedly. Mentions of the word "raping" and "breast". Some immodest outfits. The Princes unbutton their shirts in a hilarious number.
Violence: A giant causes some minor destruction, with the worst case scenario being a tower in the Prince's castle falling apart. One character's face is shown badly beaten up after falling into some magical thorns. The wolf is killed by his stomach being opened up (off-screen). The stepsisters and stepmother have their eyes pecked out by birds (we only see birds swarm around them). To try and fit the slipper, the stepmother slices off one of her daughter's toes and the other's heel (we don't see anything, just the resulting screaming and a drop of blood on a glove). Three main characters fall to their deaths.
Alcohol/Drugs: None (as far as I can remember).
Other: The last 45 minutes of the movie can be dark and depressing, and contain some very sad moments.
