Into The Woods

INTO THE WOODS

Director : Rob Marshall
Year : 2015
Genre : Fantasy
Rating : **1/2

 

A somewhat sanitized stage to screen adaptation of Stephen Sondheims popular fantasy musical of the same name, 'Into The Woods' is a bizarrely underwhelming picture from the usually brillaint 'Chicago' director Rob Marshall. Featuring an all-star cast including James Corden, Emily Blunt, Meryl Streep, Chris Pine, Emily Watson and Johnny Depp, the movie combines the stories of Cinderella, Red Riding Hood, Jack & The Beanstalk along with many other Brothers Grimm tales to form a cohesive narrative that works great on stage but not so well on the silver screen. 

As would be expected, the great Streep is as dynamic a screen presence as ever and she has a lot of fun with the role of a decrepit witch while Emily Blunt is surprisingly touching as a housewife desperate to break a spell cast by the evil hex. However, these actresses remain the only standouts in an otherwise ambitious but perfunctory production that fails to capture the majesty and magic of Sondheims Broadway smash. The songs aren't particularly memorable or choreographed in a particularly entertaining manner, the cast (albeit Streep and Blunt) do a fairly bland job of bringing these various beloved childhood icons to life and Marshall's overly erratic direction combined with a rather tacky and recycled set design leaves little to be dazzled by. In short, 'Into The Woods' is less magic and more tragic.