Review: Into the Woods

PHOTO CREDIT: Official Movie Poster

BY SARAH SHARPE

In the past few years, audiences around the world have seen several Broadway musicals appear on the big screen: Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, Mamma Mia!, and Les Misérables to name a few. They have performed fairly well at the box office, as musical theatre fans packed theaters, comparing every aspect of the film to the stage show and humming along to every song in their seats. The actors, however, were never up to snuff, as studios seemed to care more about appealing to normal moviegoers by bringing in big stars than actually considering vocal talent. Director Rob Marshall, though, somehow managed to combine a brilliant mix of stage and screen actors to successfully pull off his screen adaptation of Stephen Sondheim’s five-time Tony Award-winning musical, Into the Woods. The story has heart, humor, and beautiful harmonies. Rightfully produced by Walt Disney Pictures, Into the Woods is a movie that everyone in the family can enjoy.

         The movie combines the stories of four of our favorite childhood fairytales: Jack (Daniel Huttlestone) and the Beanstalk, Little Red Riding Hood (Lilla Crawford), Rapunzel (MacKenzie Mauzy), and Cinderella (Anna Kendrick). All four of them live in the same kingdom as a Baker (James Corden) and his Wife (Emily Blunt), a couple that has been cursed with infertility by a Witch (Meryl Streep). In order to reverse the curse, the Witch tells them to go into the woods to find the cow as white as milk, the cape as red as blood, the hair as yellow as corn, and the slipper as pure as gold. While the Baker and his Wife are searching for the ingredients, Jack and his mother (Tracey Ullman) are dealing with a beanstalk that leads to a kingdom of giants in the sky, Red Riding Hood is dealing with a very hungry wolf (Johnny Depp), Rapunzel is dealing with reclusiveness and her lovestruck prince (Billy Magnussen), and Cinderella is dealing with her decision to run away from a festival held by another handsome prince (Chris Pine). By the end of the last midnight, everyone’s lives have intertwined and they’ve all learned that wishing and “happily ever after” come with a price.

         As I said before, I was very impressed with the cast. As for the Broadway actors, Tony Award-winning Corden, Annie’s Crawford, and Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike’s Magnussen all brought their charm and talent to the screen with ease. At the end of the film, Corden had me in tears, Crawford made a very endearing screen debut, and Magnussen was absolutely adorkable the entire way through. Some of my favorite scenes included him and Pine (who I found so hard to take seriously as I saw this movie a week after I saw him in Horrible Bosses 2, but extremely enjoyed his performance, nonetheless). Huttlestone brought just the right amount of heart to Jack, although it was very difficult to see him as anyone else but Gavroche, the role he played in the recent film adaptation of Les Misérables. Ullman as his mother was another joy to watch. I was pleasantly surprised by Kendrick’s performance and can not wait to see her play opposite Broadway’s Jeremy Jordan in The Last Five Years which comes out on Valentine’s Day. Depp, despite being given major screen credit, and Mauzy were given too little screen time for me to evaluate them fairly.

         I can, however, sing praises for Golden Globe-nominated Streep and Blunt. These nominations are very well deserved. They both portrayed their characters so beautifully and gracefully. Streep’s performance makes you forget that she ever was in Mamma Mia!and, for never singing on screen before, Blunt completely blew me away with not only her voice, but the honesty in every line she delivered.

         The actors were, indeed, great, but they would be nowhere without Sondheim’s gorgeous score. I’m constantly listening to the soundtrack on my phone. From the pensive “On the Steps of the Palace” to the playful “Giants in the Sky”, from the heartbreaking “Stay With Me” to the heated “Your Fault”, every track is accompanied by an incredible orchestra and sung with such passion.

         Also, the cinematography in this film is seriously unlike anything I’ve ever seen. I’ve yet to see this show performed live on stage, but after seeing this movie, it’s difficult to imagine how woods that are able to span for miles onscreen are given the same vast quality on a singular stage. The woods were enchanting, mysterious, and created just the right setting for this story to take place.

         Into the Woods will definitely be a favorite for generations to come. It has surely helped movie musicals regain a great reputation and I look forward to see what magic Marshall and Disney can create in the future.