INTO THE WOODS

As seen in

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In the past, Disney was known for turning fairy tales into watered down classics loved by young and old.  They were chock full of colour/ music and were forever engraved into our hearts.  Time went by and they dabbled into more serious takes on the classics.  2009’s A Christmas Carol starring Jim Carrey brought us the dark side of the Dicken’s classic that was rarely traveled by the family film genre.  While noble in its intent, it just ended up frightening children and slowly became forgotten.  Then 2010’s Alice in Wonderland was a different look at the Lewis Carroll story helmed by visionary director Tim Burton.  While this one gained notoriety, by marketing Burton’s poster child in Johnny Depp and giving off the vibes of Burton’s style of fantasy, it definitely was not for the child demographic. Now Rob Marshall (Chicago) brings us a new look at some classic fairy tales, with a catch.

Into The Woods is a tale about a baker and his wife (James Corden & Emily Blunt) who want desperately to start a family but seem to be unable to.  One day a hideous witch (the always outstanding Meryl Streep) shows up and tells them of the curse that was put baker’s family prior, making his family line barren. The only way to reverse this curse is fetch four items by the blue moon that occurs in two nights.  Meanwhile, the story unfolds in the background of a boy named Jack who is forced to sell the family cow for money but only gets some magic beans, a little girl in a red hooded cloak on her way to grandma’s house, a maiden named Cinderella (Anna Kendrick) who lives with her cruel stepmother and two stepsisters and is forced to clean, and the tale of a girl named Rapunzel trapped in a tower with extraordinarily long hair.  Sound familiar?  What you never realized before is that all these stories are intertwined making each an integral part of the next. 

Don’t let the ads mislead you – this is very much a musical, but quite original, and accompanied by (somewhat) talented singing. As with the movies listed prior in the introduction, I’m not sure the kiddies will get much out of this and may be better off kept at home.  Also, Johnny Depp’s role (albeit a small one) as the big bad wolf had some lines that seemed rather inappropriate…maybe it was just me.  And while the writing deserves a great deal of kudos, having your brain keep up to a plot that jumps more than a hot-plate full of frogs is quite the testament to the viewer.  If you are able to tag along for the ride, you may actually find this movie enjoyable.  Fans of musicals and fairy tales may rejoice, but the unnecessarily long run time (and my distaste towards most musicals) didn’t so it for me; so I leave the opinion up to you.  Still kinda shocked about Streep’s nomination, but I think it’s in her contract with Hollywood to get one nomination a year.