Review: Into the Woods (2014)

Snap Judgment: Take a bunch of popular fairy tale characters (Little Red Riding Hood, Jack & the Beanstalk, Rapunzel, Cinderella – plus a twist on the standard fairytale of the childless couple with The Baker and His Wife). Give them everything they want in the first half. Make them really live with their choices in the second half (remember kids, what you think you want and what you actually want are not always the same thing; wishes are tricksy things). Add lots of music. Make sure you use the Grimm versions, so toes are chopped off and eyes are pecked out.  Voila - Into the Woods.    
 

I was in middle school when I first heard about Into the Woods. Fascinated by fairy tales and their deconstructions, but with no play versions in my area (and unaware that there was a VHS version), I ordered a copy from the library and read it. I loved it – the happily ever afters in the first half, and their dismantlings in the second half. I think it’s a testament to the writing that I could enjoy a musical as a paperback play. I finally saw the stage version in college, and I was honestly a little underwhelmed, although it was nice to finally put a tune to the lyrics.

This is to say – I’m not a diehard Into the Woods Sondheim fan, but I’ve got a little exposure to the non-Disneyfied version.  The film’s first half is the strongest. The acting is, of course, delightful, as you’d expect when you hire people like Meryl Streep (evil witch) and Emily Blunt (baker’s wife). Even the kid actors (Little Red Riding Hood & Jack) are solid. 

On the other hand, the accents ranged from posh English to not-posh English to aristocratic American (a strange amalgam for one small kingdom). Chris Pine (Captain Kirk!) usually has the most American accent I have ever heard. It sounds like what foreigners adopt when they’re doing a bad Yankee impression.  As the Prince, he is really, really attempting to channel Jaime Lannister. From his inflections to his pauses, it sounds like he studied for his role by mainlining Game of Thrones (which makes a sort of sense – Jaime Lannister is a twisted Prince Charming).    

It also falls apart a bit in the second half. This is where the cuts really start affecting the story. Instead of happily ever afters gone rancid (like in the play), for many characters there is just random violence and terror that feels detached from their Act I choices.

There are no reprises of the songs from the first half (unlike in the play). That is a shame because the reprises are clever. They are another signal that Act I wishes are part of Act II consequences. The princes really get their storylines cut short – they lose their characterization of being like pampered dogs who love the chase but don’t know what to do with their prey after they catch it. Instead, Cinderella’s prince is just a louche and Rapunzel’s prince is…fine. Rapunzel and her prince are nearly erased from Act II – they ride off and disappear, without any resolution or inversion of their happily ever after.  

Another complaint that I overheard several people mention was that it felt long.  And it did, even though it was fairly standard length (a little over 2 hours). 

Grade: B+

Final Verdict: A movie for lovers of musicals or twisted fairy tales. It feels overly long, and some of the cuts in the second half hamstring the movie a bit, but overall a good adaptation with delightful actors.

If You Liked This, Watch: Chicago, Moulin Rouge, Tangled, The 10th Kingdom, Shrek