Review of The Phantom of the Opera (2004) by Elab. — 23 Oct 2008

Due to the unremarkable critical reception and my little-to-no previous Phantom knowledge I was fully expecting to hate this film version but to my surprise I've fallen in love with it. The costumes and sets, whilst sometimes over-the-top are really stunning.

Emmy Rossum is perfect as the painfully naive chorus girl and Gerard Butler swings brilliantly from intimidating to seductive to pitiful to downright evil as the Phantom and though he doesn't sing every note perfectly he more than makes up for that out of pure expressiveness.

Although it has to be said the deformity could do with being more severe, seeing as Gerard still looks hot to me in the Final Lair scenes. Patrick Wilson (a very good actor in films such as Hard Candy and Little Children) does his best with the one-dimensional prince charming of the tale and does have a lovely voice (although his accent is painfully obvious), which is a perfect foil for Gerard's rougher, more sensual tones.

However his and Emmy's lack of chemistry compared to her's with Butler leaves most women scratching their heads at how Christine could prefer Raoul. The end is heartbreaking, if you don't cry your tear ducts are malfunctioning.