Into the Woods presents familiar tales while managing to intwine them delivering more or less a somber conclusions. Jack’s run-in with the Giant have dire consequences, the Baker’s wife (Blunt) has a demanding baby and in a moment of infidelity, Cinderella’s (Kendrick) handsome prince (Pine) abandons her, and no one is at all in content. The film works in a profound way that entertains — and educates. It’s distinct from the predictable, jaunty musicals, more or less resembling the not too comfortable real world realities we live in.
That being said the film is not without flaws; one would assume that the misery in “In To The Woods” is limited to its many downtrodden characters. But in retrospect Rob Marshall’s big-screen version, truly feels the agony, especially in the vicinity of the ears no thanks to the likes of Johnny Depp whose over top performance and the monotonous songs numbers gets the Russel Crowe award for Most Tuneless Performance in a Musical.
At the heart of it all “In To The Woods” it’s a very ambitious movie with good ideas that sometimes don’t pay off. The idea was that the actors should sing their songs live on camera while giving us an ambivalent Cinderella? A blood-thirsty Little Red Ridinghood? A Prince Charming with a roving eye? A Witch … who raps? They’re all among the cockeyed characters in James Lapine and Stephen Sondheim’s fractured fairy tale which are mostly hit with a few noticeable misses.
Giving credit where it’s due; In almost every other musical you’ve seen, the actors lip-sync to a recorded track, but singing live offers the possibility for more risk and excitement, along with spontaneous acting performances that simply can’t happen if an actor has to think about moving his or her lips a certain way. To some degree, director Rob Marshall (“Chicago “) got what he was looking for.
Again some of the musical numbers were phenomenal; Meryl Streep and Anna Kendrick being the clear highlights of the entire film mind you. But also I’d like to bring attention to Billy Magnussen and Chris Pine for their rendition of Agony… Brilliantly done I must say.
Visually, “Into The Woods” delivers the color is scintillating and the CGI is used to good effect to represent all technological advancements you’d expect to see in 2014. Marshall includes plenty of visuals that allow the 3-D to pay off with things flying out of the screen at the audience and a very fast pace action bit with the Giant which lends it’s self to a spectacular spectacle. Still, the 2-D offers more “pop” where color is concerned.
Into The Woods is a well-crafted story told with plenty of imagination and energy giving a modern twist on the beloved Brothers Grimm fairy tales we’re all raised on and honorably brings the tony award winning play to life, intertwining the plots of a few choice stories while exploring the consequences of the characters actions. Clocking in at around two hours the film doesn’t wear out its welcome and there’s some ingenuity in how the climax unfolds. A marvelously candy colored spectacle it is; In To The Woods drops the ball tonally with a few missed opportunities to boot but overall the film manages to keep me bridged to my seat with excitement and it might just do the same for you.
Into The Wood brings a star studded tale to life With Anna Kendrick, Meryl Streep, Chris Pine, Emily Blunt James Corden and Johnny Depp.
The Dude Gives It
7/10