Director: Rob Marshall
Starring: Anna Kendrick, Meryl Streep, Emily Blunt, Chris Pine
My Rating: Liked It
Into the Woods is an interesting mix of classic Disney fairy tales, with great musical numbers and fantastical performances. The story intertwines the classic stories of Jack and The Beanstalk, Cinderella, Little Red Riding Hood, and Rapunzel. It tells an original story about a baker and his wife who need to collect certain objects from each story (a cape as red as blood, a cow as white as milk, hair as golden as corn, and a slipper as pure as gold) to give to a wicked witch in order to remove a curse on them. Instead of it ending "happily ever after," the story goes further, and goes to some darker places than expected.
Since the film involves so many characters and stories, the just over two hour run time moves at a very swift pace, with no lulls what-so-ever. I like movies that take advantage of every second of its run time, and Into the Woods definitely does that. Into the Woods is a modern take on the stories, meaning that it not only does justice to the source material but also kind of pokes fun at how ridiculous some of the story points are.
I thought the whole cast did great, but specifically Meryl Streep (what's new?) and Emily Blunt. Blunt was quite funny as the pretty grounded "peon" baker's wife who gets swept off her feet whenever she sees the royal princes. Even if you aren't a fan of Disney tales or musicals, I think Into the Woods will surprise you by how entertaining it is. I've read bad reviews from people saying it doesn't match up to the superior broadway play which it's based on, but I've never seen the play, so I can't compare. As a stand alone movie, I think Into the Woods is a success.