Review of Into the Woods (2014) by David I — 10 Oct 2015

One has to wonder how lobotomized we need to be to enjoy this movie. One of the great things about the stage play is that the wolf actually looks like a wolf. Here, due the ineptitude of the director and costume designers, the wolf, hackingly played by Johnny Depp, looks like a pimp at a furry convention. And the costumes were horrible. Especially the witch. The "ugly" witch was more attractive than the pretty one. Don't know who was feeling their "blue period" but it looked like they had the blue period all over Meryl. Further more, if she can turn to dust and fly away, why does she need to climb Rupunzel's hair? Seriously. Look we still have an amazing beauty and talent in Bernadette Peters but she was not even considered for the role. They wanted a hack like Meryl to sell the marquee. Yes, yes, Meryl could sing, but she lacked any depth of character, and characteristic wit and sarcasm in her performance, any true understanding of the role. And again, they could have had the vastly superior talents of Bernadette, No one has ever been able to explain why Bernadette was slighted in this. It is like going to a French restaurant and being served Pillsbury crescent rolls. Yes, it is palatable, but it is not fine dining.

The rest of the cast was adequate despite being lobotomized by being in a sad Disney failure. The rest of the singing was sub-par and there were songs removed for time, not for need. Overall as much of a failure as Sweeney Todd without the default blaming of Tim Burton.