'Into The Woods'

In cinemas December 25th in the US and January 9th in the UK!

As someone who isn't usually a fan of musical to film adaptations, I was surprised at how well this film managed the feat. Director Rob Marshall has captured the essence of the stage play so that although translated onto the big screen and shortened in length, we don’t lose anything from the story and the style still screams Sondheim. It is beautifully shot and the singing flows as naturally as if it were just speech. It was also pleasing to see how closely they had kept to the original Grimm Tales storylines for each character, holding on to the darkness that is weaved into each plot. The original storyline of the childless Baker and his wife (played by James Corden and Emily Blunt) does well to tie all of the stories together as well as bringing humour into the film. Anna Kendrick’s contribution as Cinderella stands out as much as her incredible singing, especially during the number 'On the Steps of the Palace', while Meryl Streep as the witch almost steals the show with a stunning performance.

That being said, the characters were all a bit too one dimensional and I would have liked to have seen a bit more depth behind them. Johnny Depp as The Wolf was well characterised but far too playful, I wanted him to be almost frightening and much more of a trickster. The original Grimm Tales stories are almost brutal and I felt that this could have been shown more with his character instead of merely hinted at, as it is throughout most of the film.

However Chris Pine as Prince Charming was a very pleasant surprise. Firstly because I didn’t even know that he could sing, and apparently neither did a lot of people including Rob Marshall! Not only can he sing, but he does so very well and personally the duet between the two princely brothers was my favourite part of the film. It was beautifully shot, well performed, and actually very funny. Although both his character and his brother’s (played by Billy Magnussen) were again very one dimensional it actually worked in their case as they are meant to be shallow. To quote Prince Charming “I was raised to be charming, not sincere.”

Daniel Huttlestone captured Jack perfectly, however I found Mackenzie Mauzy as Rapunzel rather flat. Also while Lilla Crawford sang fabulously at Red Riding Hood, I felt that she didn’t quite capture the essence of her. She opened very strongly when interacting with the Baker and his wife but from then on the character seemed a little too emotionless and deadpan for my liking. All in all it is a good film, but not outstanding. However it still remains one of the best and strongest musical to film adaptations I have ever watched.

Review by Lydia Kay
See this review on www.thefancarpet.com