Into The Woods

Stephen Sondheim's award-winning Broadway musical seems like it would be perfect for a big screen adaptation. The scope of the stage production with it's big sets, many characters and magical elements would make a stage feel packed, like there was too much action going. But somehow, on the screen this story seems like it's spread a little too thin.

The story combines all of the most famous fairy tales into one big adventure and gives origin to some of the more popular ones. A childless baker (James Corden) and his wife (Emily Blunt) want to have a family, but are unable to do so due to a curse laid upon the house by the witch (Meryl Streep), who lives next door. She is willing to reverse the curse if they retrieve four items for her; a milky white cow, a blood red cape, a golden slipper and some blonde hair. These of course are all items belong to Jack (Daniel Huddlestone), Little Red Riding Hood (Lilla Crawford), Cinderella (Anna Kendrick) and Rapunzel (MacKenzie Mauzy).

With this being a musical, there is more singing than actual dialogue. However, most of these songs are mostly forgettable besides from a couple. The Wolf (played by Johnny Depp) sings an incredibly predatory song to Little Red Riding Hood, which implies that he wishes to do something entirely than eating her. The Charming princes (Chris Pine and Billy Magnusson) have a rather humourous song where they try to one-up each other in the pain that they feel by not having their respective fairytale romances. Chris Pine has another fun song where he seduces Emily Blunt. Sadly, three songs do not make up for the number of songs that I don't even remember.

The majority of the leads give solid performances. James Corden's singing experience carries him along nicely and Emily Blunt is a partner in their duets. Anna Kendrick also brings her experience from the Pitch Perfect movies. Both Daniel Huddlestone and Lilla Crawford are great young actors who will go places. Chris Pine offers some much needed comic relief. It is with Meryl Streep that I have the most problems. Her character isn't seen too much (thankfully) and when she is on the screen, she tries to steal the scenes from the other actors, all who are much more capable than her.

Verdict: While it has it's charms, Into The Woods proves to be forgettable in the department it will rely most heavily upon: it's music.