Review of Les Misérables (2012) by Liam C — 30 Jun 2014

Wow, this film really is bombastic, once in awhile the tomatometer will get something right and this time I really agree with them and this really is a sight to behold, even if by the end the singing did start to grate on my nerves and my ears couldn't really be bothered anymore because it seems like every-friggin-body got a song. I wouldn't do this because there would be no point in doing so. But if I were a person who'd skip the songs to get back on track with the story, I'd pretty much just skip the whole film, the songs aren't here to fill time, story is told through them, I'm not an idiot but they even sang in sentences, don't these people know how to converse without music? I know its the whole point of this production to have it be all sung and to be honest, up to until about half way through it didn't even click for some reason, I don't know why, perhaps I just didn't think about it but by the time it started to get annoying there was about 20 minutes left, so... it's not all bad. It is bold and unique to have the whole thing sung and it definitely makes everything much more memorable. Again though... does it really fit? Don't these people know how to just talk... I kid, I kid!

The characters are another story, in this rendition anyway, the only people I cared about were Jean Valjean, Javert and sometimes Fantine, probably because of the actors portraying them but everyone else was either lightweight, boring or worse, annoying. I've seen other works by Amanda Seyfried, Sacha Baron Cohen and Helena Bonham Carter but here, Cosette is boring and the other two are annoying. I understand their importance to the plot, especially Cosette and she did have something to do to be fair and her performance was fine but the other two after their initial scene really had nothing to do, they weren't funny and really dragged out any scene they were in and the other two nobody actors in the film they didn't leave an impression and there's another girl or something but who cares?

The meat of the story though, Jackman, Crowe and (sometimes)Hathaway, they were great. The reason I say only sometimes with Hathaway because theres only so much of her shouting (or whispering) I can take, her singing for the most part was quite good but that final song really blew out my eardrums but not in a good way, but that final song in particular is what got her, her Oscar, so what do I know? Hugh Jackman was good and lead everything great, being the centre of something this big is never fun and could all live or die based on that but he carried it well in a role I wouldn't have associated with him a few years back. To me anyway, the real standout is Russell Crowe, he was fantastic! I liked his singing voice and I really liked his performance, he has such depth and a very wide range of emotions. If anyone here should have gotten at least a nomination for an Oscar, it should be him.

Even if though everything started to get a little 'too much' by the end, it was hardly ever boring, the camera is always lively and the passion of the classic tale in a modern film is always interesting to see. The visuals were outstanding everything looks authentic and realistic, it has an excellent pace and everything grows naturally, again it helps the authenticity of it all. For as much singing as there is, it does help that every song is great, especially the musical accompaniment. I was humming them throughout the days after I saw this and I still am now, I even started to sing when I spoke normally and read most things in song too. I got the soundtrack the same day as I saw the film and that will keep these songs in my head for awhile longer, the soundtrack is like an audio book!

As is the case with most things, its not perfect. After the first song and the great introduction, I did find some of the early songs a little silly it just felt like the tone was a bit off but just as soon as I thought about that it went away. I didn't really like the sound either. It felt like I was adjusting the volume quite a lot of times. I imagine watching this in a movie theatre you're either offered with loud sound or even louder sound but at home it did get a bit annoying, so I put my headphones in and it was alright from there on out but still, it's more of an irk than anything else.

Like I have said previously, films aren't, or shouldn't be, judged by the Oscars they win but this really should have won more, the amount of effort put into this is outstanding, especially considering the budget, Tom Hooper did a great job here. Overall though, its a very ambitious piece of filmmaking with remarkable and brave performances from nearly everyone involved. It is a very memorable adaptation of a classic tale and even a few days after watching it, I am still talking about it and singing the songs.