Into the Woods (2014)

Very Cool!!!

Excellent, Without a doubt!!

There are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

I was actually surprised by how well they wove together different fairy tales. It was very innovative (I have not seen the play, so this was new to me). All the performances were good - Emily Blunt, Anna Kendrick and the children were particularly impressive. James Corden who normally annoys the hell out of me on his talk show was actually fine here! His acting wasn't at all bad. His other role as the narrator was unnecessary, the story is not his point of view. On a side note, why is Disney picking people with annoying voices as narrators?? This film, then there was the Cinderella remake with dreadful narration by Helena Bonham carter...Back to this film, it was good in parts but not without major flaws. The dark parts were good but confusing on many occasions.-1. References to pedophilia: Children of today need to be warned about these things and in very clear terms. Just telling them about some big bad wolf is not going to cut it. That is why Johnny Depp's character comes across as a creepy man after the little girl and not an actual wolf. They did tone it down and just showed the wolf-man gobbling up the girl and her grandmother. Anyway, it was OK - they got across the message they intended to. But the really confusing bit was the little girl singing "excited but scared" or something similar when she is around the 'wolf'. I mean he did give off an incredibly creepy vibe and she very smartly senses it and is absolutely sure he is going to harm her and tries her best to be calm and get away before the situation escalates. So these lyrics made no sense to me.-2. Adultery: The baker's wife does mention some discontent with him much much before she kisses the prince. She is married to him for many years and it's been a bit of a rut BUT she JUST had a BABY that she has craved for so long! Maybe you can forgive her for a moment of lapse in judgement (considering the handsome, persuasive prince and all) BUT she carries on with it until he makes some excuse and leaves. After that, her singing about "AND" not "OR" if she can be "clever about it" was out of character. She certainly did not seem that stupid at the beginning of the film or the type to have affairs with married men while being married herself! Again, very confusing.-3. Abandonment: There are various tales of abandonment in this film, all well done. -4. No happily ever after: I particularly liked Cinderella's story in this film. She marries a prince but he is unfaithful! She is disappointed by his betrayal and selfishness but gathers the courage to leave him and asks him what he will do as a king if he is upto no good as a prince. The parts I found most unsatisfactory: 1. The whole story with the lady giant was very unconvincing and frankly, stupid. 2. Lyrics seemed forced on several occasions and confusing on others as I mentioned earlier.3. Why did the baker never try to meet his sister even though he knew that the witch had hidden her somewhere? Did they forget to tie that loose end? 4. The whole thing with Cinderella's step family was a little over the top, especially the birds picking those girls' eyes - was that necessary? 5. The ending was a total cop-out in an attempt to sort of tie everything up in a feel-good way.Overall, the film could have been better if a bit more attention was paid to the characters and their motivations.

It's an okay film... lots of musical numbers as others have mentioned. The fairy-tales are intertwined to create the story. Production values are high-end. It's a musical, songs are so-so. I do like some musicals and some I can't stand - this one is middle ground for me.My big disappointment is the fact that Depp was not in it very long... his character is bumped off about 25 minutes into the film. Call me a Cry-Baby about it - lol! 6/10

I didn't know how many times I've tried to watch this movie since I found out it was played on HBO. I fell asleep so many times and this could the sign of a kinda boring movie. I also just found out, when I finally finished the movie, that it was directed by Rob Marshall, the one whose some of his movies are on my favorite movies list: Memoirs of a Geisha and Chicago. The songs, although not quite entertaining as in Chicago, have beautiful lyrics. Sometimes I think they are out of tune? (Is that a correct term?) Since my listening in English is not so great, I found it a bit hard to follow. They sang too fast sometimes.Emily Blunt and Meryl Streep are my favorite casts here. They both funny, also the twins and the stepmother. I tried to like Anna Kendrick but I still couldn't find her attractive. The story itself is average.

This movie is a musical which reworks the plots of several fairy tails and weaves them into one plot. The original unrealistic sugar sweet plot of each fairy tail is slightly amended to reflect the realities of life. This yields a heart achingly beautiful movie about the human condition. The music is somewhat modern, but nonetheless accessible and at times moving. The acting is very good. I love this movie!