'Into The Woods' is magnificent. Stephen Sondheim's musical masterpiece is brought to life here by director Rob Marshall and scribe James Lapine, but it's the cast who shine the most in this spectacular fairy-tale feat.
The baker (James Corden) and his wife (Emily Blunt) discover that they are unable to have children due to a curse from their neighbour the witch (Meryl Streep). Promising to reverse the curse, the witch sends the baker and his wife on a quest to retrieve Red Riding Hood's cloak, Jack's cow, Rapunzel's hair and Cinderella's slipper. Of course to do this the brave couple must go into the woods, where nothing seems to go as planned.
The original musical production of 'Into The Woods' was nearly flawless and it is clear that Marshall and company had similar thoughts because there are precious few noticeable changes to the tale. The old adage 'don't mess with a good thing' seems to be in full flight here. Some of the staging is a little more suited to cinema and a couple of minor story changes have taken place, but other than the absence of the fan favourite 'So Happy' and the humorous 'Agony Repirse' the film is remarkably faithful to its stage counterpart.
Without detracting from his skill as a director, Rob Marshall seems to have largely achieved most of his job during the casting phase of this film. It really does appear that the best possible people have been cast in each role and Marshall simply lets the action unfold. James Corden and Emily Blunt are fantastic in their anchoring of the film and at this point, praising Meryl Streep almost seems redundant but she is amazing here... again.If there were any gripes to be had with 'Into The Woods', it could be said that not every effort to translate the tale into cinematic form has been grasped here. As I said earlier, there is some nice staging but at times this film feels a little restricted by the fact that it was a stage show first and film second. But this is a minor and fairly subjective criticism and thus hardly worthy of note. In addition, some parents may be surprised to find that this film is not really kid-friendly. Indeed while most of the adult plot-lines will probably go over the heads of children, young ones may struggle to stay interested if they are taken to see this film and I wouldn't think it was really appropriate for children younger than teenagers.
If you enjoy musicals, you will enjoy 'Into The Woods'. Wonderfully silly and fantastically dramatic all at once, this dark fairy-tale will please audiences worldwide and I highly recommend it.
4/5
– written by Tim Packer
