Into The Woods is an adaptation of Stephen Sondheim & James Lapine’s Tony Award-winning
stage musical which blends a bunch of Brothers Grimm fairy tales and throws an original story
into the mix for good measure.
The classic fairy tales that get a modern twist are Cinderella, Jack And The Beanstalk,
Little Red Riding Hood, and Rapunzel.
While the new story that links them all together follows a childless Baker and his Wife as
they try to reverse a curse placed on them by a wicked witch.
I love a good musical – whether that’s classics like Singin’ In The Rain, 7 Brides
For 7 Brothers, Calamity Jane, Meet Me In St Louis and many more; or modern movies like
Chicago, Les Mis, Enchanted, Once or Pitch Perfect.
This isn’t director Rob Marshall’s first all-star musical, though his success rate’s
been a somewhat hit and miss.
There was the brilliant Oscar-winning movie adaptation of Kander & Ebb’s Chicago with
Catherine Zeta Jones, Renee Zellweger and Richard Geer.
Then there was also the not-quite-so brilliant Nine, which was even more star-studded and
featured Daniel Day-Lewis, Kate Hudson, Judi Dench, Marion Cotillard, Sophia Loren, Nicole
Kidman, Penelope Cruz, and Fergie from the Black-Eyed Peas.
But Marshall’s musical experience doesn’t end there: he won a Primetime Emmy for his
choreography on the TV movie of Annie, which he also directed; and he’s choreographed
movie musicals including Victor/Victoria with Julie Andrews, and stage musicals such as
Cabaret.
So, basically, he’s got movie musical form!
I've not seen the original stage version but it’s been rather controversial that Disney
was adapting this musical, especially in terms of what they’d cut and whether the musical’s
tone would suffer.
It’s already getting awards nominations, including the Golden Globes.
The movie gets you right into the fairy-tale mood from the start, as it kicks off with
the line ‘Once upon a time, in a far-off kingdom….’
The line’s spoken by an unseen James Corden, who plays The Baker.
We hear his narration here and there throughout the film, though the voiceover’s never over-bearing
as it’s used sparingly and fits neatly with the fairy-tale setting.
The Brothers Grimm fairy tales and Sondheim’s musical are both pretty dark, and although
this is a PG movie from Disney, it still manages to stay on the dark-ish side.
Ok, so, it’s not Tim Burton’s Sweeney Todd, which had an 18-certificate in the UK
and an R rating in the US.
And I kind of wonder what Tim Burton would have done with this material.
Anyway, in this Into The Woods, you don’t actually see any violence or bloodshed on
screen, with the camera cutting away before anything nasty happens.
But while things aren’t necessarily shown on screen, they’re not left totally to our
imagination either as it’s pretty clear what’s going to happen.
So, although the violence doesn’t feature explicitly on screen, the movie still feels
suitably dark.
Mixing together characters from separate fairy tales makes for some intriguing interactions
and some lovely comic moments too, with some particular stand-out parts in early scenes
between Little Red Riding Hood and The Baker in the woods.
The only characters I felt were a bit on the bland side were Rapunzel and her Prince.
Neither’s given an awful lot of screen time and neither has much to do when they are on
screen.
And there’s a thread in Rapunzel’s story that’s kind of just left hanging.
Having said that, Rapunzel’s Prince does have a very funny scene with his brother Prince
Charming, and he gets to deliver a nicely comic line to Rapunzel a little over half-way
through the movie.
As inventive and witty and clever as Stephen Sondheim’s songs are in Into The Woods,
they very much exist within the setting of the musical.
I mean that they’re not really the kind of tunes you’ll find yourself leaving the
cinema singing, whistling or humming as you go.
As for the look of the movie, sets, costumes and most of the effects, I really can’t
fault the behind-the-scenes crew!
Into The Woods certainly boasts a star-studded cast!
Meryl Streep is just fabulous as The Witch.
That she can sing is no surprise now as we’ve seen her sing on screen in the full-on musical
Mamma Mia!, Postcards From The Edge (‘You Don’t Know Me’), and in Robert Altman’s
A Prairie Home Companion.
Just as you’d expect from actress of Streep’s calibre, she really makes you believe her
witch – she acts, sounds and looks the part.
Costume & make-up look incredible – bluey-grey, matted hair, crooked blackened teeth, stooped/bent
over, thick long yellowed fingernails, & an ashen face covered in wrinkles.
And she's been nominated for Best Supporting Actress in a Musical or Comedy at Golden Globes.
Anna Kendrick’s really got the musical mania, hasn’t she?!
What with movie musicals Pitch Perfect 2 and The Last Five Years both out in 2015, that
woman just can’t stop singing!
And she really hits the right note as Cinderella.
Lovely attention to detail on her costumes, whether she’s in her scrubbing-the-floor
outfit or kitted out in a golden dress for the King’s Festival.
Chris Pine gives a cracking performance as Cinderella’s Prince, really capturing his
vanity and arrogance in a lovely comic turn.
He’s already flexed his comedic muscles recently in Horrible Bosses 2 where he put
on an hilariously unhinged show.
And he gets to develop that in Into The Woods, with some lovely scenes with his brother who’s
simply called Rapunzel’s Prince.
Look out, in particular, for the song “Agony” where they desperately try to outdo each other!
Emily Blunt reunites with Her Devil Wears Prada co-star Meryl Streep in a rather different
role though she’s still treated pretty poorly by Streep’s character!
She plays The Baker’s Wife, who’s dying to have a baby, but hasn’t been able to.
If you’ve seen Blunt in anything from Looper to The Five-Year Engagement or The Young Victoria,
you’ll know she’s a fantastic actress, but did you also know she can sing?
Well, she can, and very well too; thank you very much!
In fact, this isn’t her first time belting out a song on screen – she actually won
a Golden Globe for her role in a BBC drama called Gideon’s Daughter, where she also
has to carry a tune.
Anyway, I love her in Into The Woods for the same reason I love her in just about any role
– you always believe her in whatever she’s playing.
Nomd for Best Actress in a Musical or Comedy at Golden Globes.
James Corden is great as The Baker, portraying his character with ease.
You may know him for writing and starring in hit British comedy Gavin & Stacey.
And, of course, he’s going to be replacing Craig Ferguson as host of The Late Late Show
in 2015!
Again, this isn’t his first musical venture – he starred as amateur opera singer and
Britain’s Got Talent winner, Paul Potts in the movie One Chance; and going back to
the late 90s, he played the lead singer in a boy band in the TV comedy Boyz Unlimited,
which was co-created by David Walliams and Matt Lucas.
Johnny Depp puts in a brief appearance as the lascivious Wolf.
Depp’s no stranger to Sondheim musicals, having starred in Tim Burton’s movie version
of Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber Of Fleet Street.
And he’s also worked with Into The Woods director Rob Marshall before, on the 4th Pirates
Of The Caribbean movie, On Stranger Tides.
But I’ll try not to hold that against him!
I love the understated way they’ve styled his wolf – he’s got a fedora hat with
little ears poking out, a 1940s-inspired grey-blue furry jacket over a similarly-coloured shirt
and tie, bushy eyebrows and moustache, and a tail!
I love the matter-of-fact interaction between his Wolf and Red Riding Hood – it’s all
so perfectly natural when they meet, ‘Good day, young lady,’ ‘Good day, Mr Wolf’,
which adds to the humour.
Christine Baranski plays Cinderella’s Stepmother.
Again, she’s got musical form – she worked alongside Meryl Streep in Mamma Mia!, with
Into The Woods director Rob Marshall on the movie Chicago; and she’s starred in various
productions on stage.
Though she doesn’t have a lot to do in the movie, what she does she does very well.
As far as Rob Marshall’s movie musicals go, I still prefer Chicago.
But Into The Woods is an enjoyably dark tale with a sense of humour, great performances,
and gorgeous sets and costumes.
4 out of 5 flicks!
What did you think of Into The Woods?
Have you seen the stage musical?
How do you think the movie compares?
And what’s your favourite movie musical?
Let me know in the comments below!
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