Into the Woods

This review may contain spoilers!

A perfect example of musical theatre not translating well into film format. I would give Into the Woods a 4.5/10.

This film had some wonderful songs within it, I walk away remembering specific moments like 'Agony' and 'It Takes Two'. I also thought the construction of the setpieces were brilliant and gave the film as a whole a very interesting tone. The camera work and editing was also something was was certainly inspired and very engaging.

Anna Kendrick, who played Cinderella, gave a very good performance as someone who had her wishes fulfilled and then she realised that what she dreamed didn't necessarily have to be what she wanted. Tracey Ullman, who played Jack's Mother, gave a great performance as this bitter old woman; her quick retorts and contrasting attitude to other characters certainly brought a lot to the film. Lilla Crawford, who played Little Red Riding Hood, was a brilliant child actor with an amazing voice; I really enjoyed the nuanced performance she had in this film. Meryl Streep, who played the Witch, was one of the powerhouse performances within this film; her singing and her wild displays of intense emotional performance were some of the more memorable parts of the film. Chris Pine, who played Cinderella's Prince, was a very enjoyable performance; his arrogant and sexist prince while not meeting the end he deserved certainly was played very well.

James Corden, who played the Baker, was a close call for my favourite between him and Meryl; but Corden certainly shined brightest in this film. James Corden brought some fantastic emotional depth to his performance that none of the other actors quite managed in the same way. He hit the lows and he hit the highs, and I'm not just talking about his singing. But truly his voice was perfect and he excelled in some of his duets with Blunt, Kendrick and Streep. Beyond that his humour really shined through into his character and I thought that that was great.

For a musical film the performances really had very little impact upon me as an audience member, they felt very contained and only once they finished was the plot allowed to carry on. I also thought that the plot was very stretched out and uninteresting, there was no real twists and the characters as well as their relationships and ties were never really strongly established before the plot moved along. I also thought that the effects within the film felt like that of a low budget tv show, I was certainly unimpressed in that regard.

Daniel Huttlestone, who played Jack, is one of the worst child actors I've seen in a while; his singing was certainly the worst as well. Emily Blunt, who played the Baker's Wife, was a horrid character who felt crammed into the story out of necessity; her abrupt change of character in the final act was also highly disconcerting and seemed out of nowhere. Christine Baranski, who played the Stepmother, was one of the more forgettable characters of the film; she was also a good example of a secondary character given too much screen time. Johnny Depp, who played the Wolf, was a major annoyance to me; Depp has fallen into this pit of playing the same character repeatedly which is tiring to watch. Billy Magnussen, who played Rapunzel's Prince; had very little screen presence and felt like a cheap copycat performance of Pine. Mackenzie Mauzy, who played Rapunzel, really brought nothing to the film; her established relationships to characters lacked a convincing feel.