Review of The Phantom of the Opera (2004) by Catherine S — 19 Apr 2011

The Phantom Of The Opera deserved to have an adaption made for it for the big screen, and this one delivers. Phantom brilliant visuals, an updated sound to the classic songs, and some decent actors that make this worth seeing.

Based on the play of the same name by Andrew Lloyd Webber (which was based on a book by Gaston Leroux), The Phantom Of The Opera takes place during the 1800's at a famous opera house that's inhabited by a ghostly figure. A talented soprano named Christine Daae has been trained by the phantom for several years, believing him to be the "Angel of Music" her father spoke of. She's soon reunited with childhood friend Raoul, who's one of the men taking over the ownership of the opera house. After the prima donna leaves, Christine soon becomes a rising star as the leading lady. Meanwhile, the phantom reveals his true intentions to Christine, wishing to marry her. He becomes furious however when he learns that Christine has fallen in love with Raoul. Thus, the war for her love has begun.

While I love Sarah Brightman and Michael Crawford's versions of the songs, Emmy Rossum and Gerard Butler do fairly well. Emmy is wonderful as Christine, while singing newcomer Gerard does decently for the lack of practice he had previously. The visuals for this movie is spectacular, truly bringing the spectacle of the play to what it truly was meant to be like. As a first view of The Phantom Of The Opera, it was great and isn't as bad as so many people say it is. While the acting at times seemed weak and I keep hearing that they added scenes that weren't in the play adaption, it didn't seem to negatively affect the movie in anyway and it was still enjoyable.

Overall, senior fans of Phantom may scoff at this film, I still think it's an adaption that new fans not wanting to see the play version should see. It has great music, brilliant adaptions, and is just a fantastic film. (Real rating: 79%).