LogFAQs > #933757523

9. Into the Woods

Karo: 5
Inviso: 6
Johnbobb: 6
KBM: 7
JONA: 12
Genny: 30
Scarlet: 33

Karo - Basically all sorts of famous fairy tale characters have the sudden urge to do some arboreal exploration, so they head into the woods and sing a lot.
The plot itself is a bit confusing, and only the familiarity of the fairy tales involved make it followable at all. Near as I can tell, the story seems to be a metaphor for either growing up or losing your virginity (Red's segments were definitely the latter).
Nonetheless, the music is good and considering this was something that was very difficult to adapt into a movie with its myriad of storylines and characters, they did a pretty good job of it.

Score: 76/100

Best Song: 'Prologue: Into the Woods'

Inviso - I found this musical to be delightful in the way that I wasnt expecting. The first half intermixed the fairy tales of Cinderella, Rapunzel, Little Red Riding Hood, and Jack and the Beanstalk in a whimsical comedy of errors. James Corden does a great job playing a beleaguered everyman, as I first realized when he had to put up with Matt Smiths frenetic portrayal of the Doctor, and as such, he makes for a great connecting thread to bring all of the other storylines together. Really, that first half is all about the Disney style of fairy tale, where everyone overcomes their trials and tribulations to achieve a happy ending. The Witch regains her beauty, the Baker and his Wife have a son, Cinderella gets her Prince Charming, Rapunzel gets HER Prince Charming, and Jack provides riches for his family.

However, as all those happy endings came together, I checked the clock, and there were still forty-five minutes left in the film. Suddenly, all of those positive outcomes fell apart, with Prince Charming cheating on Cinderella, a giant coming to kill young Jack, Jack and Reds parents dying, the Baker being unable to cope with fatherhood, and his Wife dying due to the giant as well. All of those magical solutions to lifes problems fall apart, and its up to the characters to work together and find solutions. I appreciated that message, and I appreciated the fact that, even though everything went south for all involved, they still came together as a makeshift family in their time of need. It wound up being a second happy ending, and this time, it felt far more realistic and deserved.

Johnbobb - Anna Kendrick is a goddess among common men and while she unfortunately doesn't get the full spotlight, she is surrounded by a pretty excellent cast. Agony is hilarious. The musical is equal parts Disney movie and Grimm horror, which works surprisingly well.
Favorite song: Agony

KBM - Why I Chose It: Based on the Broadway musical of the same name, which was nominated for 10 Tony Awards in 1988 (but lost most of them to Phantom of the Opera), the long-awaited film adaptation of Stephen Sondheim's Into the Woods was finally released in 2014, after versions of the film had been in stuck in development hell since the early '90s. The film was produced by Disney, and directed by Rob Marshall, Oscar-nominated for his work adapting 2002's Chicago, with a screenplay by James Lapine, who also wrote the script for the original show. It proved a rather large hit, receiving three Oscar nominations (including Best Supporting Actress for Meryl Streep as the Witch), three Golden Globe nominations (including Best Musical or Comedy), and mostly positive reviews, being named as one of the best films of 2014 by the AFI.

My Thoughts: My thoughts are that this is the most successful stage-to-screen adaptation of a piece of musical theatre of the 2010s, and it's not even really close. There were so many opportunities for them to blow this; Into the Woods requires actors who are both excellent singers and actors, and a willingness to go into some pretty dark places that Disney is usually hesitant to go to. I have been in the show (played Jack in high school) and will be music directing a production of it in the summer, and as someone who's intimately familiar with the source material, I truly admire how great of a job the filmmakers did at adapting the material. Between the legendary Paul Gemignani's top-tier music direction, a cast with exactly zero weak links (between this and Edge of Tomorrow releasing in 2014, we definitely know what year my hopeless crush on Emily Blunt began), and Rob Marshall's sure hand (the latter of which was particularly a relief after the embarrassment that was his 2009 musical adaptation Nine), this adaptation manages to hit virtually all of the right notes. I have a couple of minor quibbles, such as the vague manner in which Jack's mother dies, and the exclusion of the Agony reprise, but they're easy enough things to ignore in the grand scheme of things. The film captures the spirit of the show in a way I didn't think was possible until I saw it. (Screw the Mysterious Man.)

Favorite Song in the Movie: Agony (the inspired choreography atop the waterfall manages to add hilarity to what was already a hilarious song)
Best Song in the Show: Last Midnight (it IS still one of my favorites in the movie because Streep does a surprisingly good job of handling a very difficult song, but shit there's nothing like hearing the likes of Bernadette Peters or Donna Murphy sing this one)

JONA - Its fun to see the different fairy tales interact in the same world. The shenanigans involving the baker and his wife getting the items are quite funny. Its cool to see what happens to the characters after they got their happy ending. I would have been pretty satisfied if it ended there. Its nuts that we got a Disney version of Cinderellas story where her sisters feet get mutilated. The drama of the second part is quite intriguing and wondering what the future holds for these characters after everything thats happened.
Favorite Song: Prologue: Into the Woods

Genny - The first half of Into the Woods would probably make my top 10 despite a few things holding it back such as everyone's need to constantly sing over each other preventing me from gleaning half of the exposition out of the opening number. I'm hyperbolizing obviously, but that is an issue. The bigger issue however is that Into the Woods becomes an entirely different movie in its latter half: one that's more satirical but also somehow less clever. This jumbled mess literally features two princes dick measuring over who's situation is sadder and also a baker's wife contemplating two-timing the husband she just had a child with then that entire potential conflict becomes irrelevant when she falls off a cliff. The he