Into the Woods

Let’s go into the review. I watched the December 25, 2014 fantasy musical drama movie Into the Woods, based on the 1986 musical of the same name. Directed by Rob Marshall, it takes place in a fairytale rural town. Starring Meryl Streep, James Corden, and Emily Blunt, it is rated PG.

A baker and his wife have been unable to have children. After being given instructions by a witch, they have 3 midnights to gather 4 different objects to be able to have a child. While they are searching, several other people are dealing with their own struggles. Cinderella, under the abusive grasp of her stepmother and stepsisters, gets her chance to dance with one of the princes at the festival. Little Red Riding Hood is off to bring food to her sick grandmother, while running into the Big Bad Wolf. Jack is ordered by his mother to sell their cow, Milky-White, leading to a beanstalk adventure. Rapunzel, forced to stay in a tower by the Witch mentioned above, may find her way out when she falls in love with the other prince. Can all these characters get their happily ever afters?

After seeing the musical for the first time recently, I had an interest in seeing the film. I loved the musical, but this film doesn’t have the best reputation. Still, I decided to give it a chance. So, how do I feel about it? I do like all the actors chosen for this film. Meryl Streep, James Corden, Emily Blunt, Anna Kendrick, Chris Pine, Christine Baranski, Tammy Blanchard, Lucy Punch, Lilla Crawford, Johnny Depp, Daniel Huttlestone, Tracey Ullman, MacKenzie Mauzy, and Billy Magnussen. They are all good choices for their roles. The problem is that they come across as just basic. They’re not bad, it’s just that there is nothing special about their performances. The same can be said about the singing, which is a concern when you’re making a musical. Meryl Streep and Anna Kendrick I feel did do well with the acting and singing, but everyone else is just okay. The musical does a good job crossing over different fairytales and putting a twist on it, as well as tying back to the older darker fairytale days than what we’re used to from Disney. For example, exploring some immorality from the characters, like greed. We get this in the film, but I don’t feel there was enough of it. Obviously, changes are needed in an adaptation, but there are some bad changes. Taking out small things that added a lot. Making odd choices. Mainly removing the comedy from the original musical to make a humorless, serious movie. It might not have helped that despite what I said above, Disney made this movie. The reason being that the musical went back to the original, darker roots of fairytales. The changes I didn’t like may have been the fault of Disney. They do still give us a lot of what the musical gave though. When it comes to stage musical to film adaptations, there’s always a benefit with having better effects, and that’s the case here.

With all this in mind, how does the film hold up for me? I have to say it was an okay movie. The musical is much better and what I recommend you watch instead. As is, the movie is decent. However, I think even people who haven’t seen the musical could find that this film needed a little more for it to work. I do hope a better film adaptation gets made in the future. For now, this is it. Let’s hope filmmakers can work their magic on this.

The characters in the musical were greedy. In real life, greed can manifest as corporate greed. Companies can take advantage of the general public for money and get away with it. This is unacceptable. I feel we can do something about this. If you were a victim, keep trying to find a good advocate who can help. Use peaceful protest and social media to spread awareness. Again, if you were a victim, try to respond with organizations that can help, or file a complaint. Try to boycott businesses that do this. We can help make less corporate greed in the world if we all work together on this.