One Sentence: The Musical choice for the season.
Rated: PG
Nudity: None
After Credits: None
Well there are two musical choices for the 2014 Christmas Season. Into The Woods and Annie. One is a good movie, the other one, Into The Woods is a good movie and musical. So if you are dying for songs that tell stories and are not horribly auto tuned, then Into The Woods is the movie to pick this year.
Into The Woods was not a musical I was familiar with or one where I had heard any of the music from. So that led to the discovery of some amazing songs, and a very solid musical. Comedy elements, good singers, amazing sets and costumes, and everything that Disney has been doing right lately was all bundled up into this fun fairy tale musical. I wasn’t weighed down by time changes and expository lyrics like I am in a lot of musicals. It was fun, and light while carrying multiple story lines through the woods. Even the more reflective songs felt fun, and when it was a heavier time in the movie I was still having an amazing time.
The cast was wonderful and all the singing if it was done by the actors was amazing. Everyone carried their own weight and gave it all they could to keep this movie above the fray of witches and bakers singing about cows and giants. The children who played Jack and Red Riding Hood were especially amazing, having the most complex songs and handling them with amazing skill. The only song which was better than the young ones, was Chris Pine’s and Billy Magnussen’s number which was amazing in spectacle while making the audience die with laughter.
There is nothing to complain about with Into The Woods, and compared to Annie which was a musical tragedy. Into The Woods was a pleasant surprise. Disney live action has delieverd another family hit, that everyone will have a fun time talking about after Christmas Dinner.
