MOVIE REVIEW: INTO THE WOODS (2014)

From IMDB:

Storyline

Into the Woods is a modern twist on the beloved Brothers Grimm fairy tales in a musical format that follows the classic tales of Cinderella, Little Red Riding Hood, Jack and the Beanstalk, and Rapunzel-all tied together by an original story involving a baker and his wife, their wish to begin a family and their interaction with the witch who has put a curse on them.

Ratings: 6.5/10 from 32,325 users Metascore: 69/100  

Reviews: 449 user | 205 critic | 41 from Metacritic.com

From Rotten Tomatoes:

Movie Info

"Into the Woods" is a modern twist on several of the beloved Brothers Grimm fairy tales, intertwining the plots of a few choice stories and exploring the consequences of the characters' wishes and quests. This humorous and heartfelt musical follows the classic tales of Cinderella (Anna Kendrick), Little Red Riding Hood (Lilla Crawford), Jack and the Beanstalk (Daniel Huttlestone), and Rapunzel (MacKenzie Mauzy)-all tied together by an original story involving a baker and his wife (James Corden & Emily Blunt), their wish to begin a family and their interaction with the witch (Meryl Streep) who has put a curse on them. (C) Disney


TOMATOMETER 71% | Average Rating: 6.6/10
Reviews Counted: 182 | Fresh: 130 | Rotten: 52

Critics Consensus: On the whole, this Disney adaptation of the Sondheim classic sits comfortably at the corner of Hollywood and Broadway -- even if it darkens to its detriment in the final act.

AUDIENCE SCORE 54% liked it 

Average Rating: 3.2/5 | User Ratings: 76,646

Meet the Baker. He sorts of starts the story off with the Witch and all. ©Disney

So why go INTO THE WOODS?

Let's see, Into the Woods was actually a stage musical that first appeared on stage in 1987 and it's been appearing on and off since then. The idea to turn it into a movie started way back in the early 1990s but nothing really panned out. Back then the stars that were interested in turning it into a movie included Robin Williams, Billy Crystal, Meg Ryan, Cher and Danny DeVito. Not a bad bunch if I do say so myself. Of course, most young folks these days probably won't recognize some of those names.

Here's the Evil Stepmother and Sisters, not so much evil as silly actually. ©Disney

So what's Into the Woods about?

Well, it's all your favorite and familiar fairy tales like Cinderella, Rapunzel and Jack and the Beanstalk all happening in the same country and all of them sort of bump into each other to advance their own and each others storylines. How do they do that? Well, the main plot has the Baker and his wife looking for a bunch of stuff to cancel a curse that the witch put on his wife. You see in the past the witch was made a fool of by the Baker's dad and she in turn put a curse on him and his wife that they would never be able to have children. Why the sudden change of mind from the witch? Well, it turns out that in a few days a rare thing happens, the blue moon which comes around only once every 100 years will be appearing. When this happens the curse that the witch has on her can be cancelled out and when that happens she'll cancel out the curse that is on the Baker's wife. Why does the Witch have a curse on her? Well, the Baker's dad a long time ago stole from her garden and that's why she curse him and his family which is why the Baker can't have children but that's not all, when the Baker's dad stole his last vege from the Witch's garden he also stole some magic beans which was given to the Witch by her mother and the magic beans cannot be taken out of the garden or she will be cursed. Cursed how? To look like you stereotypical witch. You see she used to be one hot Witch, or maybe they call those fairy godmothers. I don't know about that.

And here you have the Baker, his wife, Jack, his mother and beloved cow and the Witch. They're trying to make the cow eat unusual things. ©Disney

Well, that's the main driving plot. The rest, like Cinderella, Rapunzel, Jack, Little Red Riding Hood sort of come and go and interact with the Baker and his wife's quest to find the items that the Witch needs to cancel the curse. It sounds like there's a lot going on and there is but it isn't at all complicated.

This is Cinderella, she's adorable. And since it's Anna Kendrick sort of silly. ©Disney

Did I enjoy my foray Into the Woods?

In short, yes, yes I did. This was a very simple and entertaining movie musical. You know all the characters and their stories but you probably never thought that they could be told in this way, that all your favorite characters all live in the same country and could somehow bump into each other as they go about their little lives. And they way they bump into each other keeps you interested. You're curious to know how Cinderella fits into all this, how Jack and his Beanstalk adventures feeds into the Baker's quest. It's all quite delightful actually.

And the music which is throughout the whole movie is entertaining. There's not much dialogue without music, pretty much everything that's said is said to music and I actually wasn't annoyed or bored by it. I usually am, I am not a musical sort of person, well not one for them in movies anyway. But this was okay.

So when the Witch isn't cursed she looks like this. Cinderella's Fairy Godmother shows up too but doesn't look half this good. ©Disney

The acting was also very good, all very nicely played. Meryl Streep is brilliant, Anna Kendrick adorable and Emily Blunt surprising. But I have to say Chris Pine playing the charming prince was hilarious. His prince charming was so exaggerated it was silly but it works. The way he looks which to me almost borders on sinister doesn't quite fit the prince charming looks but when he belts out his song and does his sing and dance routine it was hilarious. Totally didn't expect it but enjoyed it completely.

So the baker needs Little Red Riding Hood's red cape. And here he is trying to grab it from a little girl. It's that kind of movie. ©Disney

So in short, what I'm saying is that I enjoyed Into the Woods. It may not be the exact same Into the Woods as the stage version but I've never seen that one and I don't think it matters. Maybe it does to fans and purist of the play but if you've never seen it why bother comparing it. Into the Woods has been out for a while now and if you're looking for a fun movie to watch then buy tickets for it. A little note before I end this blog, the second half of the movie isn't like the first. It gets a little darker. But it's still good. Also Jack makes me think of Oliver Twist and Little Red Riding Hood after awhile looks like those goth girls in those horror movies. And Johnny Depp's Big Bad Wolf was interesting but pretty forgettable which is probably why I only remembered about him til now. Also really nice to see Tracey Ullman on the big screen again.

It's good that I give it a very entertaining 3.5 out of 5.

THANK YOU VERY MUCH NUFFNANG, CHURP CHURP AND WALT DISNEY MALAYSIA FOR THE PASSES. ALSO THANK YOU NUFFNANG FOR THE VERY NICE INTO THE WOODS BAG!!

THANKS GSC CINEMAS @ ONE UTAMA FOR HOSTING US ALL!!