The fairy-tale reboot trend continues with ¡°Into the Woods,¡± Disney¡¯s big-screen version of the Stephen Sondheim musical that debuted on Broadway in 1987. Set in and around a creepy forest that looks like a leftover ¡°Harry Potter¡± stage, ¡°Into the Woods¡± mashes up a bunch of well-known Brothers Grimm tales with some hammy A-list performances by the likes of Meryl Streep and Johnny Depp.
James Corden and Emily Blunt play a baker and, ahem, ¡°baker¡¯s wife,¡± who have been cursed to childlessness by a wicked witch (Streep) unless they can bring her some magical items: Rapunzel¡¯s hair, Red Riding Hood¡¯s cape, Cinderella¡¯s slipper, and Jack¡¯s cow, which is somehow more prized than his magic beans. Director Rob Marshall (¡°Chicago¡°) retains a lot of the original musical¡¯s darker undertones, which are true to the spirit of the Grimms, but things like implied pedophilia and dismemberment may be a bad surprise for parents taking their kids to a Disney film.
Like ¡°Les Miserables¡± and so many modern musicals, though, ¡°Into the Woods¡± features lots of singing, but precious few real songs with melodies you can remember. Somewhere, Cole Porter rolls in his grave.
| Rating | |
|---|---|
| Director | Rob Marshall |
| Language | English |
| Opens | March 14 |
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