Family Movie Review of Into The Woods
This is our third Family Movie Review. Today's movie is Into The Woods. We saw it yesterday in 2D. I
am not going to recap the events of the movie, but I will be sharing the
our thoughts on the file.
Normally this is where I going into my spoilers warning, however, I feel it is important inform you that we were all surprised to discover that Into the Woods is a musical. It feels like a bait and switch from what the trailers showed to what was given. None of us expected the style or story that was delivered. That fact actually made it hard to decided if we liked it. I also think Into The Woods would make a better rental movie night and not worth the theater ticket price. With that said:
WARNING: there are spoilers ahead. If you haven't seen the movie and want to keep it a mystery stop reading.
Dad -the credits were nice.
Mom -there were funny parts, I liked that Rapunzel got a happy ending and the Baker returned for his son. Also, the witch's arrivals and exits were always well done.
Sister -The cast was good, especially Johnny Depp. Once I got use to the fact that it was a musical, I don't really like musicals, the singing was okay. It was good for what it was.
Me -I enjoyed that Baker was played by James Corden (more about that in the favourites section). There were certain songs I enjoyed, the opening number "Into The Woods" and the "Blame" song. There were a lot of great little one liners, the only one I remember was Prince, "They taught me to be charming not sincere." It opens up some interesting ideas about how we teaching can some times lead to very different out comes. I liked some of the ways they kept to the actual Grim fairytales (step-sisters cutting off toes and Rapunzel's prince being blinded). And other places made interesting crossovers between familiar stories (Baker rescues Red Ridding Hood, Baker's wife sells the magic beans). There were also some neat cinematic shots, nice special effects, and beautiful costumes. There were very clever moments...
Less Than Good:
Dad -The movie felt long, too long and mediocre at best. The quality of singing wasn't great, most of the actors didn't have pleasant voices and had to be fixed with computers. I have never enjoyed Meryl Streep and that trend has continued. The whole story felt like there was something missing. There also was themes and messages that are troublesome for the building of healthy society, like "your upbringing justifies your actions" and "its only bad if you get caught."
Mom -It was not what I expected. I was off-balance by the fact this was a musical and it made the whole viewing less enjoyable.
Sister -It was a musical and I don't like musical.
Me -...but there were very clever moments. There own cleverness was part of the trouble. Sometimes it the cleverness was overbearing. Other times it was a thin attempt to hide all the plot holes my mind kept having to leap over. There were too many loose ends for the ending to be truly satisfying. It was unbalanced and disjointed and too long. The whole thing had these shining moments surrounded by dull ones. I was bored and wanted most songs to end. At the half way point I wanted to leave. It was mediocre and easily forgotten.
Dad -Little Red Riding Hood's song with the Wolf
Mom -Rapunzel story ended happy and her prince really loved her.
Sister -The witch was great.
Me -I liked the Baker. I liked him from the start and it was party because James Corden was Craig Owens on Doctor Who (The Lodger and Closing Time). When the Baker was trying to sooth his crying baby son, I was thinking "It's okay Stormaggedon, Not-Mom will figure it out."
Dad -2 out of 5 off key songs
Mom -2.5 out of 5 happy endings
Sister -4 out of 5 golden eggs
Me -2.5 out of 5 magic beans
Hope you enjoyed our review. Have you seen into the woods? Do you agree with our thoughts? What did you find good, less than good, and a final rating? Leave a comment and can read our family review of The Hobbit here.
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