Review of The Phantom of the Opera (2004) by Cole M — 01 Sep 2014

While the sets are breathtaking, and the cinematography is stunning (John Mathieson is no lightweight), the film suffers from its casting. Emily Rossum and Minnie Driver both give decent enough performances, but Gerard Butler, who plays the titular Phantom, really brings this one down. I won't harp on his singing abilities, but he doesn't seduce the audience, so much as he, well, creeps them out. Playing the Phantom is a two-sided affair, my friend.

Joel Schumacher goes back to his roots in several ways here. Along with the lavish costumes he's provided, he also co-wrote the screenplay (with Andrew Lloyd Webber). Correct me if I'm wrong, but the last thing he wrote before this was "Flawless", no? He and Webber do their best to carry the musical over to the silver screen, and it's an admirable effort, but isn't always successful. Things lurch too often. Phantom is a bit of a dance. You may know the music, but you need the movies, too, so to speak.

And speaking of the music, I'm not a fan of Mr. Webber's. "Jesus Christ Superstar" was pretty good, to be fair. And I don't hate "Evita" like a lot of other theater people. I just find that a lot of his music sounds, well, the same. But that's just me. What's that? He got an Oscar nomination for Best Song for this? Oh. Well, then.