Tony Award-winning Broadway Musical Finally Arrives to the Big Screen

Love or hate this musical, Disney’s Into the Woods has arrived. Dark, well-acted, and a tad annoying.

From stage to the big screen — Into the Woods belts out some catchy and slightly annoying show tunes. Believe me, these songs will be stuck in your head all damn day. But the musically star-struck talent (Meryl Streep, Emily Blunt, James Corden, Anna Kendrick, Chris Pine, Daniel Huttlestone, Lilla Crowford, and Johnny Deep) helped mostly uphold the film overall. Director Rob Marshall (Chicago) goes back to his Broadway roots, adapting Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine’s highly known adult fairy tale. Even with its PG rating, Into the Woods is still undeniably dark. The plot interweaves familiar tales of Little Red Riding Hood, Jack, and the Beanstalk, Rapunzel, and Cinderella to revolve around a lonesome Baker (Corden) and his beautiful wife (the wonderful Blunt); who is longing for a child, in this fantasy crossover.

Bam! Enter the Witch (Streep, marvelous as ever) from next door. And does she make an entrance! Her tremendous presence overpowers the crowd with oohs and awes. Streep has continued to add to her hefty list of nominations by receiving her 29th Golden Globe nom for this film. With her blue hair and gothic entire, Streep is capable of all kinds of magic, good or bad. Like this movie musical, there are good parts and there are bad parts. The Witch tells the Baker that she put a spell on his family years prior — when she discovered his father stole from her precious garden. The items were magic beans, and the Baker discovers them, conveniently enough, in his father’s old coat pocket. As you can guess, those beans make their way into the hands of a young boy named Jack (Huttlestone). This is where the other characters come into play, and we are off into those alluring woods! 

Into the Woods hits the notes and, at times, can be a bit drowning with its over-the-top in-your-face numbers. Kendrick gives us a different take as the runaway maiden, Cinderella, by adding a timid side to her character. Deep comes in for about 20 minutes to deliver a spooky performance as the Big Bad Wolf. Pine sweeps in as the seductive prince and is downright hilarious every time he makes a screen appearance. The brother’s duet (Pine and Billy Magnussen) “Agony" is killer funny — probably the most entertaining number in the film. And finally, that leaves us with Corden and Blunt, who are the heart of this story. The final act gets a bit shaky and veers off the path. In the end, Into the Woods will be a mostly fun adventure for some and dreadful for others.