Into the Woods (2014)
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Into the Woods Movie Review
Into the Woods is a 2014 musical fantasy film directed by Rob Marshall and starring Meryl Streep and Emily Blunt. It’s a hugely underrated, terrific movie.
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“My father’s house was a nightmare;
your house was a dream.
Now I want something in between“
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It follows a childless couple who set out to end a curse placed on them by a vengeful witch. Ultimately, the characters are forced to experience the unintended consequences of their actions. Based on a famous Broadway musical, the movie opened in 2014 to tepid reviews, but I loved it back then, and I still love it after rewatching it.
There is a lot to love here. The film mixes four different Grimm Brothers’ fairy tales – Little Red Riding Hood, Cinderella, Jack and the Giant Beanstalk and Rapunzel. Thus, it reminded me of ‘Once Upon a Time’, but a more dramatic, deeper version of that show.
Most critics have complained about the tone of the movie, which I personally adored. Yes, the first and the second half are widely different from each other, but it was only fitting to have a nice fairy tale beginning and a darker ending for a movie that tries to be more realistic and timely.
The first half is excellent and very enjoyable in the fantastical elements and the mixture of fairy tales. The second half is better as this is where the heart and soul of the movie lie. Suddenly, a bunch of people die and the movie becomes this edgy and dark examination of personal responsibilities, parenthood and life choices. The dialogue is fantastic.
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Meryl Streep is phenomenal as The Witch and she actually deserved her Oscar nomination. Her numbers steal the show and she imbued a lot of emotion into what could have otherwise been just a campy villain role. Emily Blunt is another standout in the film’s best written role. The Baker’s Wife got a lot to do and all of her interactions with others were meaningful and poignant.
James Corden is solid as The Baker and nowhere near as bad as others would say. This character is excellent and the fatherhood angle is wonderfully explored with him. Anna Kendrick as Cinderella is superb. Her singing is by far the best of the bunch as she is an actual musician. Her performance is wonderful and the character just worked. The line where she says she wants a normal life, not the poor or rich extremes, was very meaningful and they here gave a lot of agency to an otherwise stationary character.
Chris Pine is bravado and fun in the Prince role while Johnny Depp was thankfully only present in couple of scenes that are the worst and campiest in the entire movie. The Cinderella part of the story is the best one along with The Baker. Jack is also very well realized and his plight is heartbreaking, but Red is somewhat less memorable and the Rapunzel section was undercooked, though memorably dark in the treatment of the Billy Magnussen Prince.
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Into the Woods is a musical and a highly entertaining one. Prologue: Into the Woods is a powerful opening for the movie that is long, but very effective and catchy. Last Midnight is very powerful and one of the musical heights of the film while Witch’s Lament is just incredibly moving in its lyrics. No One Is Alone is gorgeously sung and the theme of connectedness and love really moved me here. Most of the songs are wonderful, Marshall’s direction is very good and although the pacing isn’t the greatest, I still appreciated the weird structure to it with the happy ending arriving and then quickly dissipating. The cinematography and effects are also very strong, albeit overly dark in look.
