Log in / Sign up
I was actually a little surprised when I was leaving the theatre at the end of the movie, and I heard some people talking among themselves saying they had no idea that it was a musical. Into the Woods is a musical, so it is important to know what you're getting into before going to see the movie. That being said, I have always been indifferent on musicals; I don't enjoy a movie any more or less based on whether it is a musical or not. As a musical, and as a film, Into the Woods mostly succeeds. For the first two-thirds of the movie, it acts like a classic Disney musical with a clever and fun twist. An adaptation of the play, Into the Woods features some fantastic singing, songs, and choreography. The entire cast is great; particularly Meryl Streep and Emily Blunt who over-achieve in their respective performances. The movie is quite funny, with one song in particular poking fun at itself for the audience's enjoyment. The film is able to focus on many characters without making any of them unnecessary. As many stories that join into one, the movie is extremely fun to watch unfold. An hour and a half into the film however, I thought it was ending, and was preparing to get up, thinking to myself that Into the Woods is great, fully deserving of an 8/10. However, the movie dragged on for another 30 minutes, which is where I found the flaws. There is an abrupt shift in tone that took me off guard, and didn't seem like it fit with the rest of the movie. This last act of Into the Woods made the entire movie feel long, which could be a problem for young kids seeing the film. I thoroughly appreciated the final scene in the film however, which I guess could not have happened had the last half hour been excluded from the film. This scene brings forth the emotional weight of the movie, which it was lacking in up until that point. Overall, Into the Woods is an extremely fun fairy tale musical that ultimately overstays its welcome by 30 minutes, despite delivering a fantastic final scene, great music, and some noteworthy performances.
There is a problem with your e-mail address and we are unable to communicate with you. Please go to My Account to update your email.
Please choose a username to sign your comments. Only letters, digits, dash - or period. Minimum 4 characters.
Your age and sex:
We publish all comments, except abusive, at our discretion.
But almost the entire message of the film is in the final 30-40 minutes. You seem to want that part to be cut. You probably know that the Broadway show runs longer than two and a half hours. I know people who wanted the film to be half an hour longer but important scenes and songs were cut. But thank you for your very well-written and perceptive comments. By the way, when the musical opened on Bdwy the NYC critics didn't much like the second half. I believe that now that the show is familiar, they realize how important that half is to the show. Actually I think the second act is the better act. It has the best songs and the most moving moments.
My friend who saw the movie with me takes the same stance you do, and it is a topic we are still talking about. I must admit that I am not overly familiar with the play itself, so it is hard for me to compare things that worked well in the play to the movie itself. I do admit that the final act does provide an emotional resonance with that fantastic final scene. It was the fact that the last 30 minutes felt like a much different movie that made me mention it. The two parts of the film work well as stand-alone segments, but I don't think there was any transition between the two tones, which made it feel a little out of place. I was unaware of the criticisms of the final act of the play; I only knew about some negative critical reception to the ending of the film itself. Thank you for the comment, I love it when I get responses to my reviews.