Into the Woods

It's a new year and to mix things up a bit, my mum and I went to see the new adaptation of Into the Woods as it intrigued me with the different actors that were taking part in it and the plot of the musical it was based on and how they were going to adapt that to screen even though I have never seen the musical.  Musicals aren't my favourite kind of film, even though a lot of Disney films are musical in some way, but I like to watch them occasionally so it's something different to see.

Into the Woods is the 2015 Disney musical film by Rob Marshall based on Stephen Sondheim's musical of the same name starring Meryl Streep (The Devil Wears Prada, Julie & Julia), Emily Blunt (The Devil Wears Prada, Gnomeo & Juliet), James Corden (Gavin & Stacey, One Chance), Anna Kendrick (Pitch Perfect, Up in the Air), Chris Pine (Star Trek series, Rise of the Guardians), Tracey Ullman (Corpse Bride, How I Met Your Mother), Christine Baranski (The Big Bang Theory, The Good Wife), and Johnny Depp (Edward Scissorhands, Pirates of the Caribbean series).  Into the Woods is inspired by a number of fairy tales including Rapunzel, Jack and the Beanstalk, Cinderella, and Little Red Riding Hood as several of the characters are brought together and a story is wound around them.

Rating: 7

Recommended To: Musical fans

Favourite Characters: Baker - great character development

Favourite Part: Jack: Magic what type of magic? 
Baker's Wife: Tell him.
Baker: Magic that, uh, defies description.

Good Points: Very surreal but very enjoyable; interesting amalgamation of fairy tales; production design is wonderful

Bad Points: Could be overcomplicated for children

Into the Woods tells the story of the Baker (Corden) and his wife (Blunt) who want to have a child but the Baker's family have been cursed by the Witch (Streep) because his father stole some magic beans from her garden.  To break the curse, the Witch says they need to bring her some ingredients for a potion then she will lift the curse: a cow as white as milk, a cape as red as blood, hair as yellow as corn, and a slipper as pure as gold; the only requirement is that she can't have touched any of the ingredients.  Their mission for a baby brings them into contact with Jack (Daniel Huttlestone, Les Misérables) who has been sent by his mother (Ullman) to sell their cow, Red Riding Hood (Lilla Crawford) who is on the way to her grandmother's house, Rapunzel (MacKenzie Mauzy, Forever) who has been locked in a tower by the Witch and has secret meetings with her prince (Billy Magnussen, The Divide), and Cinderella (Kendrick) who keeps running away from her prince (Pine) every time she goes to his ball even though she lives with her evil stepmother (Baranski) and her stepsisters who makes her do all of the household chores.  All of the characters are trying to achieve their happy endings but will they be as sweet as they think.

Into the Woods was a wonderfully surreal experience which made it equally interesting as well as funny which in turn drew me in from the very beginning.  From witches to princes to bakers, all with musical numbers, I found the film to be completely surreal and random as a wolf croons in the woods and, my favourite example of all, the princes performing a duet, trying to outdo one another in various acts of showmanship.  I found it hysterical through that latter example because it was completely cheesy and it was amusing to Chris Pine, the new Captain Kirk, do a musical number like that - I wasn't expecting it.  As well as surreal and funny, I found Into the Woods to be very touching as it is, all-in-all, a sweet tale the Baker is telling to his child and despite the death and such, the ending is sweet in my opinion.

I will forever find the amalgamation of fairy tales fascinating and enjoyable as I have not met one I dislike yet.  Into the Woods is loyal to the original stories in my opinion which were darker before they got retold, especially in kids' films, and they teach you in turn by the end; Into the Woods teaches you to be careful what you wish for as it could all be too good to be true - you shouldn't pin everything on a fantasy.

The production design of this film, from costumes and hair to special effects are beautiful aesthetically for me and wonderfully imaginative with each characters set in different eras from what I can gleam from the interviews as well as the films which made each character interesting as they mingled together yet still fit together even though they are part of different stories in the film.  The effects, though obvious as they bring the magic to life but are visually wonderful from my point of view as they swoop throughout the story and define the Witch especially, making her more fantastical.

The Baker was by far my favourite character because I think he had great character development as he became less paranoid about his wife's safety over the course of the first half of the film and stopped blaming himself for the curse that was placed on his house and he even conceded to allow his wife to take on some of his burden, as they made a great team.  I found it really sweet that he was just worried about his family's safety as well which slowly included others towards the end of the film.  James Corden is one of my favourite actors as he makes me laugh and has been since I watched Gavin & Stacey years ago and I love him in Into the Woods as he became a bumbling, flustered baker who cares for his wife and her desire to have a child and his performance was a major contribution to my favourite part of Into the Woods and why I thoroughly enjoyed the entire film.

Despite all of the points I love about this film, Into the Woods could be overcomplicated for children with the various characters who all had their own storylines that came together in the end which means you need to keep track of what is going on outside of the main plot which focusses on the Baker and his wife.  Though it's not extremely overcomplicated, I just think younger children may get lost over the course of the film because you leave to be concentrating throughout and unfortunately it could be too much for a young child.

Jack: Magic what type of magic? 
Baker's Wife: Tell him. 
Baker: Magic that, uh, defies description.

I loved this part because I loved the Baker's reaction to his wife - pure panic and fluster, it lightens the mood and illustrates the relationship between the Baker and his wife as the Baker relies on her and when she needs to rely on him, he flusters and lies poorly even if he does persuade Jack to give up his cow for beans that are magic.  While there were other parts I liked, this won because of the Baker's line too as I can identify with this aspect of his character, panic when lying, and I would make the same bumbling lie up despite how clever I think I am.

Though it could be overcomplicated for younger children, Into the Woods is a wonderfully surreal film which was interesting and funny as they brought a handful of fairy tales together and wound them together, bringing back the original darker side to the old tales that are part of our culture.  I confess I have never seen the musical so I can't compare it to the film but I thoroughly enjoyed Into the Woods and will never be able to get over Chris Pine singing and gallivanting around a waterfall out of my mind.

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