Into the Woods

Starring: Anna Kendrick, Meryl Streep, James Corden, Emily Blunt, Daniel Huttlestone, Christine Baranski, Chris Pine, Johnny Depp, Tammy Blanchard, Lucy Punch, Tracey Ullman, Lilla Crawford, Mackenzie Mauzy
Directed by: Rob Marshall
Rating: PG
Genre: Adventure, Fantasy, Musical
2014

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: A baker (James Corden) and his wife (Emily Blunt) are determined to break a curse placed upon them by a witch (Meryl Streep). To do so, they must acquire objects from Cinderella (Anna Kendrick), Jack (Daniel Huttlestone), Rapunzel (Mackenzie Mauzy), and Little Red Riding Hood (Lilla Crawford).

Review:

Tim: I was looking forward to Into the Woods- it features a stellar cast, a director in Rob Marshall whom has musical experience, and it just seemed like a fun change of pace from the movies I'd been watching. My excitement level was not matched by the quality of the film, unfortunately. This movie is actually quite bad. Despite trying to like it, I couldn't get into this dull, disjointed, mess of a film. I'm not sure what happened or why so many people claimed to like this movie. All I know is that it was one of the least fun experiences I've had in quite a while.

The movie doesn't start out bad, but it just takes a long time to get going. We have a lot of characters to meet. Some of them are new, like the baker and his wife. Some of them are very familiar, like Little Red Riding Hood, Cinderella, Jack with his Beanstalk, and Rapunzel. There's also a slew of secondary supporting characters. There's a lot happening, which contributes to the film's too-long 125 minute run time. After a slow start, it soon becomes apparent that the baker and his wife will interact with all these fairy tale characters- not a bad plan at all. A big problem, however, is that the main storyline is wrapped up around the halfway point. I remember thinking to myself, wow, what the heck is that last hour going to be about? It didn't help that by this point, I was totally disengaged with what I saw on screen. My wife actually got up at this point and decided not to finish the movie. That's how boring it was.

This is where the movie breaks down. It's really a film of two very different halves. Once we reach the midway point and wrap up the main story, we get a wildly different second half. It was quite bizarre- the movie becomes dark and depressing and feels like a very different film. By the end of the film, I was barely interested in anything at all. My wife made the right call by calling it a night halfway through.

A big issue is that none of the characters are all that interesting. The baker and his wife are probably the most interesting. James Corden and Emily Blunt mostly did a good job in their roles. Meryl Streep wasn't very good- it felt like she was hamming it up and played the role with a bit of an ego. She makes a fine witch, but I just didn't love her performance. Anna Kendrick is quite good as Cinderella, but we already know her story. There's not a whole lot to keep us engaged, especially when her prince- Chris Pine- seems to be a bit of a dope. These two characters eventually have a fascinating, unexpected moment in the second half of the film, but it's never explored to the extent I wish it was. Pine felt like he was really disengaged and didn't quite care how he came across. It wasn't a great performance. Little Red Riding Hood was fairly annoying and Jack never connected with me, either. Again, we know their stories, so it was a bit boring to watch them slowly unfold. Johnny Depp felt like stunt casting as he has almost nothing to do. It felt like just another chance for him to play a weird character. We've seen that too many times before.

I have to admit that I didn't care for any of the songs. None of them felt especially catchy or memorable. They were okay, but certainly nothing special. It would have helped to have at least one really great tune.

As a whole, I just had a bad time watching this movie. I didn't care for the music. Outside of the baker and his wife, I didn't care for any of the characters. Towards the latter half, the film dips a toe into the water of- "What happens after happily ever after?" This would have been fascinating, but the journey to get to this point is so dull that I barely cared at all once we'd gotten there. The story is a bit of a mess- it jumps back and forth so much that no momentum is ever really built.

I went into Into the Woods with a very open mind, so I was stunned when I disliked the movie as much as I did. I have no idea what people saw in this film, as it's easily one of the most disappointing movies of 2014.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 5.5



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: Pitch Perfect, Cinderella, Enchanted