Into the Woods Review

Starring: Emily Blunt, James Corden, Meryl Streep, Anna Kendrick, Chris Pine, Johnny Depp

Into the Woods is a musical based on the famous Broadway play of the same name. In it, the subjects of multiple fairytales such as Rapunzel, Jack and the Beanstalk, and Cinderella, are bound together by a witch who seeks to use a childless Baker and his Wife to reverse a curse put upon her, and in return she will take back their curse and give them what they want most: a child. The theme of the film is the often overused "Be careful what you wish for" theme. While I'd like to say it comes off fresh in Into the Woods, it doesn't. This is a movie that is mediocre at best, and while the performances try desperately to save the movie from caving in on itself, it unfortunately fails on almost all accounts in its third act. I am a fan of musicals, and I liked the first third of Into the Woods immensely. It ended up losing just about everything it had gained. Spoilers ahead will be hidden.

The one saving grace is Meryl Streep. Without a doubt, she is the movie's shining star. When she appears, she suddenly becomes the most interesting thing onscreen. Her performance as the Witch is unlike anything I've ever seen her do before, but her acting ability shines in this very whimsical and sometimes dark role. It's clear she's having fun, but she also adds gravitas to the role. While the film's awards hope slowly drifted away as I watched it, I can't argue with all the awards Meryl Streep has won and may win down the road. Once again, Oscar is written all over her. Emily Blunt is also solid as the Baker's Wife. She's arguably the lead, and keeps the film grounded while she's onscreen. The two child actors who play Little Red Riding Hood and Jack are good in there roles as well, but their singing voices far outreach their acting abilities. Anna Kendrick also shines as Cinderella, both in acting and singing. Her song "On the Steps of the Palace" is probably one of the best scenes in the movie, and my personal favorite song. I could go into every actor, which includes a stunning list of cameos and small supporting roles like Christine Baranski as the Evil Stepmother and Johnny Depp as the Wolf, but just understand that the acting is fine. None of the acting ability contributes to the film's major flaws.

For me, everything was ruined in the third act, and that was due to a script failure. The story just lost me. There is a point about halfway through, where the Baker and his Wife have broken the Witch's curse and she has broken theirs, Cinderella's getting married, the giant's dead, the Wolf is killed and Red's grandmother saved, and everything is exactly like the fairytales we've all read. There's also a modern-day spin which makes it seem fresh. That was where it should have ended, and it would have been a great movie. But no, it went on for about an hour longer, and proceeded to show that wishes can't really be granted. It also killed many main characters with random circumstances. The ending felt like a cop out to me, and like an excuse to tie everything together "Disney-style". The studio obviously couldn't decide if they wanted to make it dark and reach out to older viewers and awards, or make it fun and kid-friendly for the whole family. The result is something neither kid-friendly or awards-worthy. It also ends on such a corny note. The Baker narrates the story from the beginning, and it all ends up being a story he starts to tell to the survivors at the end. After they've just pulled off one of the most ridiculous and convoluted schemes I've ever seen in a movie and every character is just okay with the horrors they've seen. Besides the Witch, none of the characters could ever be connected with because of how much the movie jumped around. Rapunzel and her prince are basically dead to me, as they served absolutely no purpose. Cinderella was the next best character, and the Baker and his Wife were good leads, but mostly everyone did exactly as they were written to do, bringing nothing interesting to their roles.

MAJOR SPOILERS BELOW. DO NOT SHOW UNLESS YOU WANT THE ENDING SPOILED

After the Witch dies it all falls apart. She dies in the most ridiculous way possible. She gets angry that they blame her for everything and curses herself, and she is struck by the heavens and turned into a tar pit. A tar pit that ends up defeating the foe and saving everyone. Which felt like a completely random act to me, that didn't need to happen. She was not nice, she was wicked and vengeful, so her intent shouldn't have been to save anyone. Also, as I said above, without Meryl Streep in the last half hour, the movie suffered. She was carrying it.

So for me, Into the Woods is a movie I would see only for the acting. It's long and slow at the end, an ending that basically ruined the whole thing for me. I'd like to point out, I have not ever seen the stage version nor was I aware of anything about it before I went in to see this. I had no preconceived ideas of what would/should happen. I am judging this as a movie alone, which is why I am singling out the acting (particularly Streep) as well as the costumes and set for praise. The film as a whole does not succeed in my opinion because of so many mistakes it makes in the end. The last thing I will say is about the music. Not memorable in my opinion. Besides the opening "Into the Woods" which I can't get out of my head (NOT a good thing) and the already mentioned "On the Steps of the Palace", "Agony" sung by the princes, and "Stay With Me" sung by the Witch are the only standouts. Everyone had a nice voice, but it honestly felt like the same song was playing over and over and over again.

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