The film opens with James Corden as the Baker narrating; however for some reason director Rob Marshall rides roughshod over the "Once upon a time" fairy tale opening herald and we lose the impact of the music as punctuation; instead the orchestra drifts in mid-phrase and we have to listen to Corden mumble his way through the book. In the opening moments of the film, what should be spine-tinglingly exciting exposition, is really marred by Corden's shopping list narration. In these few bars, Sondheim is setting up his archetypal fairy tale (ready for its demise) - this is not a magical start.
As we get further into the story, we follow Cinderella's journey prepping for the ball, and here Anna Kendrick does a sturdy job. However, by the time we arrive at Little Red meeting the Wolf, there is very little that can save "Hello, Little Girl". Everything about this number is bizarre, from the casting of Johnny Depp (who looks like he should be filming another Burton horror) to the costuming and the direction. Because of the decision to cast Little Red young, the dynamic between the two - often played as adult seduction - becomes paedophillic, but it's not something acknowledged in the acting decisions. The music and lyrics suggest the Wolf does more to Little Red than devour her, slapping the Disney logo on the film doesn't whitewash that, so it plays as a very confused scene.
The next number "The Spell Is On My House" for me, highlights why Corden is a poor choice for the Baker - his wife is later to remark that he has become "passionate, charming, considerate, clever" and yet, Corden's quippy, quirky baker is all ready all those things this early on. Perhaps a wetter, duller Baker would have been a better choice, someone that grows, with the story, that makes an emotional journey, not just a forested one.
With a lot of the songs loved by stage audiences cut out, we soon find our way to the Baker saving Little Red from the gut of the Wolf; Lilla Crawford rings in a nice performance however her youth doesn't allow her to understand what she's singing about and so we're given a pretty and catchy rendition of "I Know Things Now" but it doesn't mean anything. She might be one to watch as she grows up, though.
In "A Very Nice Prince" we see the blossoming relationship of the Baker's Wife and Cinderella and Emily Blunt as the Wife begins to really shine; her soft, naturalistic approach to the libretto helps her in leaps and bounds and what she lacks in vocal agility she makes up for by creating an honest character and the dynamic is good between the two women.
With further liberal musical edits, we lose the epic countdown song "The First Midnight" - a song that although not really furthering the narrative emphasises the Witch's power and impatience and will later justify the Witch's parting ballad "The Last Midnight".
On we head to Jack's "Giants in the Sky" where Daniel Huttleston's lack of diction means we lose 95% of the lyrics and odd direction sees him scrambling around in a tree. It's, again, a shame, GItS is one of my favourite numbers and you can't help but get the feeling that it's rushed through and brushed over because the role isn't being played by a Hollywood A-Lister; again, as with Little Red, I'd veer towards casting Jack as a young adult, somewhere along the lines of High School Musical-aged Zac Effron.
Thank God for "Agony" in which Chris Pine gives the performance of the film, perfectly pitching his narcissistic Charming as the two princes peacock around in a brilliantly choreographed moment set on a fairy tale style cliff-top water fall. Fab!
We miss the reprise of "A Very Nice Prince" and arrive at the Baker and his wife singing "It Takes Two" - this is an awkward number for this pair as there seems to be little romantic chemistry between Corden and Blunt, and the vibe is more of sibling rivalry, which is disappointing.
Minus "The Second Midnight" we plough straight into Meryl Streep singing "Stay With Me" at Rapunzel. Yes, I do mean, 'at'. Finally we get a glimpse of the Witch the people might actually be scared of, because up until now Streep seems to have played the role of the odd old lady from nextdoor, not a Brothers Grimm wicked witch.
"On The Steps Of The Palace" sees Kendrick making a good effort of thinking-through Sondheim's lyrics but at times we lose her train of thought and she's just singing into a camera.
Heart-renchingly, the show-stopping ensemble-sung end to Act One, "Ever After" in which the characters celebrate the belief that they can live 'happily ever after', is cut from the soundtrack and is given to the orchestra as very distant underscoring. It's a real shame as, for me, this number (and its later reprise) is the crux of the story, the idea that the perfect happy ending is ultimately unfulfillable and evil has a habit of triumphing over good; so be careful what you wish for. With this we don't see the reprise of the Prologue and so lose the powerful idea of the contrast between what you wish for and what you really want. We also say goodbye to the Agony reprise, in which the two princes lament their sexual frustration and unhappiness as husbands, and the Witch's Lament. Because this audience haven't heard Cinderella's Prince long for another woman, the seduction of the Baker's Wife in "Any Moment" comes rather out of the blue and renders both characters less likeable.
Emily Blunt then goes on to give a brilliant version of "Moments In The Woods", beautifully thought through, but inexplicably given several General American vowel sounds throughout. ???
"Your Fault", a speedy song for the Baker, Cinderella, Little Red, the Witch and Jack, written in the patter style, is rendered completely unintelligible by Huttlestone and I don't have anymore to say about it than that.
Meryl Streep's "The Last Midnight" is on the whole a success; however I have one point to make here about her casting. Without being ageist, I want to raise the issue everyone is ignoring: after the Witch drinks the milk potion she is supposedly transformed into 'a beautiful young woman'; now, Meryl Streep is a very attractive woman, beautiful even, but I can't help but feel that this role would have been better suited to a younger actress initially made up with prosthetics, as Streep was, and then revealed to be an utterly gorgeous woman in the prime of life. It's a bizarre suspension of disbelief we have to make when Rapunzel fails to recognise her mother in her new look, when she looks near identical, except with blue hair and make-up!
We lose "No More" between the Baker and his father and, presumably under Disney terms, we lose the death-by giant-crushing of Rapunzel. As a result we amble on to "No One Is Alone", sung by Cinderella to Little Red and by the Baker to Jack. Here, both Kendrick and Corden shine. It's a lovely moment and it's well-played by all. The prize for pleasantly surprising vocals goes to Corden whose soft tone is perfect for the lullaby feel of the song.
We hear the reprise of this number as the spirit of the Baker's Wife urges her husband to look after their infant child, telling him to relay their story to him. In response the Baker re-starts the narration we heard him mumble through at the start, and in so doing arguably setting the entire film as his re-telling of the story to his baby and the audience of surviving fairy tale characters. It's an odd directorial decision and it's one that concludes the film as the reprise of "Ever After" is cut, including Cinderella's final utterance of pessimism: "I wish"."
On the whole, Into The Woods is a good watch; it's visually beautiful and its all-star cast is sure to pull in the punters, but be prepared for a Disney-afied version of Sondheim's dark and twisted tale on the stories of the Brothers Grimm; there are occasional moments of brilliance but there are others that are 'grim' in a whole different sense.
