Review

Into the Woods

Chris Pine stars as Cinderella's Prince in Into the Woods, a modern twist on beloved fairy tales.
Chris Pine stars as Cinderella's Prince in Into the Woods, a modern twist on beloved fairy tales.

Fairy tales weren't so innocent or cute before Walt Disney got ahold of the Grimm Brothers. The original versions of "Snow White" and "Cinderella" are far more violent and disturbing told Wilhelm and Jacob's way. Uncle Walt reimagined them as life lessons for wayward tots.

So it's ironic the studio that made fairy tales more kid-friendly than kid-frightening has proved to be a good custodian for the musical that takes old folk tales back to their unsettling roots. In bringing Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine's 1986 stage musical Into the Woods to the screen, the Mouse House has made several revisions, like cutting some songs, but has managed to retain the wit and the poignancy of the source material as well as its not-so-revisionist look at bedtime stories.

Into the Woods

86 Cast: Meryl Streep, Anna Kendrick, Lilla Crawford, Chris Pine, James Corden, Emily Blunt, Christine Baranski, Mackenzie Mauzy, Daniel Huttlestone, Tracey Ullman, Billy Magnussen, Lucy Punch, Frances de la Tour, Tammy Blanchard

Director: Rob Marshall

Rating: PG, for thematic elements, fantasy action and peril, and some suggestive material.

Running time: 124 minutes

Into the Woods examines what might have happened if Cinderella, Jack and the Beanstalk, Little Red Riding Hood and Rapunzel all inhabited the same universe. They manage to intersect in odd ways and eventually the characters' accidental encounters cause the once familiar stories to head in unexpected directions.

The catalyst for these quirks of fate is a vindictive witch (Meryl Streep) who offers a baker and his wife (James Corden and Emily Blunt) the chance to reverse a spell that has left the couple childless. Having cast the spell herself as a punishment for the baker's thieving father, the enchantress demands that the struggling couple obtain four objects so she can execute a seemingly unrelated plot of her own.

As the baker and his wife scramble through the forest trying to find the ingredients for the witch's brew, an ambivalent Cinderella (Anna Kendrick) wonders if she's got what it takes to win the Prince (Chris Pine), even with the help of magic. Meanwhile, young Jack (Daniel Huttlestone) is desperately trying to sell his milked-out cow to buy food for himself and his long-suffering mother, and Little Red Riding Hood (Lilla Crawford) is off to her grandmother's home, but the Big Bad Wolf (Johnny Depp) finds plenty of mesmerizing distractions for her.

If that weren't enough, Rapunzel (Mackenzie Mauzy) is eagerly awaiting a suitor (Billy Magnussen) at the bottom of her tower, and all of the lives in the kingdom get even more complicated because everyone's actions wind up influencing the fate of others. In addition, Sondheim and Lapine imagine what might occur after the Grimm Brothers put down their pens.

Lapine also wrote the screenplay for the film, and he has good instincts for what to cut and what to keep from the play. It doesn't hurt that in the film, viewers can actually see some of the giant who pursues Jack down his beanstalk and that Rob Marshall, who helmed the Oscar-winning Chicago, has a fair idea how to stage and edit musical numbers.

Great casting is certainly a plus. Streep seems to be enjoying herself as the meddling witch, but Lapine also implies there's more than simple villainy in the Witch's agenda. Pine, in particular, shines as the Prince. He's good at playing roguish heroes like Captain Kirk, but he's even better at making fun of them. His Prince Charming is a little too impressed with his own desirability.

Marshall handles the special effects tastefully and almost sparingly. He simply lets viewers know the giant or giants are around without belaboring the point. After all, anybody coming to this film would probably rather hear Sondheim's songs than gaze at incessant, eye-gouging CGI.

It's rare to walk out of a Stephen Sondheim musical wanting to hum the tunes. There's something almost intimidating about his gymnastic melodies and finely wrought lyrics. The songs seem to be courting admiration and thankfully often earn it. They can be poignant and witty and carry a lot of information in a small space. The songwriter seems to be daring casual listeners to pay attention because he's not going to waste time waiting for stragglers to catch up.

Thankfully, Marshall and the producers have managed to assemble a film that allows the songs to come alive and that reminds us that old fairy tales aren't that old if they can captivate an audience each time they're told.

MovieStyle on 12/26/2014

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