For those of you who didn’t know, Into the Woods was originally a Broadway play in 1987, and then later revived again in 2002. The fairytales depicted in the story are based heavily on the Grimm’s Fairytales. Due to the adult content of the stories Disney had to change things around, and leave certain moments “off screen” for their young viewers…Ploumis reviews “Into the Woods”

Directed by: Rob Marshall, written by: James Lapine, music and Lyrics by: Stephen Sondheim

“I wish, more than anything . . .”

Into the Woods’ all-star cast

Into the Woods has an all-star cast which includes Anna Kendrick as Cinderella, Emily Blunt as the Baker’s wife, Meryl Streep as the Witch, Johnny Depp as the Wolf, and Chris Pine as Prince Charming. Each character holds their own vocally, whether it be solos or nicely paired duets. Into the Woods has also been nominated for three Golden Globe Awards (Best Actress Emily Blunt, Best Supporting Actress Meryl Streep and Best Picture).

Sounds pretty good, right? Sounds like it has all the makings of a great movie going experience – and yet it really just . . . wasn’t,,,,,,,at… all.

The film starts with every character singing “I Wish”, telling me (the audience) what every character wants and think she has to have in order to be happy. Great, now I know what everyone’s goal is – I’m obviously going to watch these characters intertwine as they try to get their wish. Now I’ve got a Witch (Streep) with a curse and a scavenger hunt, creating my “call to action” – still good. After this scene all the characters enter the wood – and the focus in the story telling really breaks down. Rather than sitting back and enjoying the film, I’m just uncomfortable and asking so many questions.

Ploumis reviews “Into the Woods”

The songs in the film didn’t function as a mechanism to usher the story forward. They were, instead, merely awkward pauses in which everyone has a drawn out private moment. I felt like I was watching actors battling for solo screen time rather than contribute to the story. Perhaps every character is supposed to be this selfish? The beginning of the film was crammed with songs, but in the middle we were treated to a strange break from the music, only to be smacked with more songs at the end. The pacing with this was really off.

Johnny Depp (who proved his vocal bad – assery in Sweeney Todd) was not a menacing animal, but a creepy pedophile. I feel that if Depp had been made to look more like a wolf than a man, this would have helped greatly. Moments when the wolf is meant to look hungry – he looked turned on. Something definitely got lost in translation there . . . poor Red Riding Hood.

The song “Agony” sung by the two Princes of the film (Chris Pine and Billy Magnus) describes their pain of not being with their respective damsels. This song was purposefully sarcastic, and truly was agony – for the audience. It was supposed to be funny – but wasn’t.

Is there is something strange about a fairytale who makes a joke of its own archetypal characters? This leads me to question why Disney was the company to put this movie out -Disney, the institution which taught us about dreaming big and magic as well as about great loves and happy endings.

I mean this is how Disney has branded itself. So why then be behind a movie which undermines all those principles? Why is Disney now telling us be careful what you wish for, and that “love” looks like a Prince cheating on his Princess with the Baker’s wife? I am not questioning the validity of the point Into the Woods is trying to make, but merely questioning Disney’s choosing to be the one to make it. It’s strange to see a preview for Cinderella (due out March 2015) and then see Cinderella see what should have been her dream come true turn into a total mess. I can’t imagine what the children in the theatre were thinking.

I am a huge fan of musicals – especially any musical worked on by the great Stephen Sondheim (West Side Story, Sweeney Todd). I was also raised on Disney fairy tales and have a deep respect for their ability to speak to the hearts of both children and adults. But honestly, the Disney/Sondheim mash-up I’d been looking forward to all year left me lukewarm. What I’ll remember most from this film was how everyone stood up in the theatre and started to leave before the ends credits started rolling . . .

“I wish” this hadn’t been over two hours of disappointment.