Into the Woods began as a 1987 Tony award-winning Broadway musical with music and lyrics by the widely celebrated Stephen Sondheim. When it was announced that a film adaptation was in the works, the theatre community blew up in excitement. When the first trailer got released, both film and theatre fanatics were beyond amazed with the style and visuals in the trailer, and hoped that the final film would not be a disappointment. There are some major changes to the film adaptation, but Disney and Sondheim made it clear that such changes would happen. I was lucky enough to go to an advanced screening of this film two weeks before the actual premiere, and I didn’t mind the changes. I actually find a lot of the changes necessary given some of the adult themes in the original version. However, despite all of this, I recall leaving the theater rather irritated and peeved.
Into the Woods is a web of interlocking narratives that consists of some of the most well-known Brothers Grimm fairy tales, more specifically Little Red Riding Hood, Cinderella, Jack and the Beanstalk, and Rapunzel. A Baker (James Cordon and his wife (Emily Blunt) desperately want a child, but are unable to conceive. They are visited by their neighbor witch (Meryl Streep) who explains that she had placed on curse on the Baker’s bloodline after his father stole from the Witch’s garden to feed his pregnant wife, and also taking six magic beans that gave the Witch her youth and beauty. The Witch reveals that the curse can be undone if the Baker and his wife can acquire “the cow as white as milk, the cape as red as blood, the hair as yellow as corn, and the slipper as pure as gold” in three days time. Unfortunately, this leads to some major run-ins with the characters of our beloved fairy tales, and we begin to see that these tales to not exist independently. Instead, they have heavy influences on each other, with devastating consequences.
Into the Woods contains roughly five interlocking narratives and, due to the plot change halfway through the film, feels like two films at one. Such a structure only works in theatre. Act I ends, and the audience goes to the lobby for a glass of wine and engage in discussions regarding the first act and predictions about the climax. In the cinema, the audience is stuck in their seats for 90-120 minutes, thus there is no time to digest the first half of the film.
The film still has a fleshed out narrative, and yet it still feels empty and incomplete. In my opinion, a large part of it has to do with how character deaths are handled. The death scenes are so unclear that the audience is not even aware that the characters are dead until it is mentions in future scenes. Even if they were clear, the death scenes have no purpose except to add a bit of dramatic effect to the narrative.
Another reason I felt frustrated with this film is that a lot of the subplots feel rushed or left without a conclusion. I don’t even remember when or how Rapunzel’s narrative ends. Hell, I’m not sure what her purpose was beyond being a plot device (the hair as yellow as corn). Also the two princes just sort of disappear. Rapunzel’s prince leaves the story when Rapunzel’s narrative concludes, but Cinderella’s prince pops out of the story with no conclusion or resolution, or at least one that has no impact nor is it rememberable.
Despite all of this, the music translates very well into a cinematic format. All the actors do brilliantly vocally, especially Meryl Streep and Anna Kendrick. Johnny Depp does very well performing The Wolf, bringing a bit of Sweeney Todd into the character. Though I must warn, he is on-screen for only one song plus a few seconds in another scene. His total screentime is less than five minutes and yet he’s one of the featured actors. Into the Woods is not great and it’s not bad. But it is enjoyable nonetheless. If you can not sit through musicals, skip this film. Otherwise, it is a film in which you can draw your own conclusions regarding it’s quality.
| Into the Woods | |
| Story/Plot | 6 |
| Pacing | 5 |
| Direction | 8 |
| Cinematography/Visuals | 8 |
| Editing | 4 |
| Sound Design | 6 |
| Acting | 7 |
| Theme/goal | 7 |
| Entertainment Value | 7 |
| Rewatchability | 7 |
| Final Score | 6.5 |
Mixed Bag Reviews 