[Originally posted on 12/25/14]
A twisted tale on the classics - Cinderella, Rapunzel, Little Red Riding Hood, Jack and the Beanstalk - tied together by the central characters' narrative, a baker and his wife, cursed to be childless by a witch. In order to reverse the spell, the couple must collect a cow as white as milk (Jack), cape as red as blood (Red Riding Hood), slipper as pure as gold (Cinderella), and hair as yellow as corn (Rapunzel) by midnight of the blue moon. Their lives all intersect in the woods.
A twisted tale on the classics - Cinderella, Rapunzel, Little Red Riding Hood, Jack and the Beanstalk - tied together by the central characters' narrative, a baker and his wife, cursed to be childless by a witch. In order to reverse the spell, the couple must collect a cow as white as milk (Jack), cape as red as blood (Red Riding Hood), slipper as pure as gold (Cinderella), and hair as yellow as corn (Rapunzel) by midnight of the blue moon. Their lives all intersect in the woods.
The actors belt out dialogue in songs
like champions, particularly Meryl Streep ("The Iron Lady"), power-singing through the
movie and casting spells with her presence. Anna Kendrick ("Up in the Air") and Emily
Blunt ("Edge of Tomorrow," "The Adjustment Bureau") enchant in a number of moments.
The movie has an eerie aura throughout its storybook-like settings and is surprisingly violent at times. But it's also self-aware and bleakly funny. It could have done away with the last third act, unnecessarily prolonged and muddled.
The movie has an eerie aura throughout its storybook-like settings and is surprisingly violent at times. But it's also self-aware and bleakly funny. It could have done away with the last third act, unnecessarily prolonged and muddled.
Plays like a Broadway show, “Into the
Woods” is an entertainingly dark mix of musical and parody.
