Watched into the woods and heres what Ill say about it: There are some great songs, by function of being masterfully concocted but also parlayed adequately by the cast. It felt underwhelming because Ive seen the stage version PBS put out on video in 1989. That video had everything the movie had and more. Because this movie didnt surpass the 1989 version it just didnt feel new or different enough to be necessary. I didnt connect with the jack character and expected him to be more dumb than young. I connected with red riding hood more, but she didnt have the impact I wanted. Theres a small part that the witch reveals early on in the movie that was kinda necessary to hide til the end of the first act (she reveals it three times), but I think the thing that makes the stage version still better for me is the humor. There are so many lines that needed to be punched up, cadenced into, or just went flat that made a lot of the humor tepid. If you want to see it theres a lot there for you. Red riding hoods voice is perfect for those songs. Anna Kendrick, though I think lacked some connection to the other characters emotionally, sang everything perfectly and beautifully. Johnny depp was forgettable, but I think this was song and character styling choices. Chris pines voice wasnt perfect but agony was well represented anyhow. Tracy ullman was jacks mother and an awesome fit! Meryl got to do some awesome songs and did them Meryl. I will just say that I dont know that this benefitted from being made into a movie rather than just letting it be a stage production.
Posted on: Mon, 29 Dec 2014 03:38:08 +0000