Rent Into the Woods (2014)

annoying - Into the Woods review by wm

OMG how long did the opening song last? It was like a duracell battery it went on and on then just when you thought it was over and they were in the woods it started again so hence to say that was the end of the film for me what a shame because i think i might have enjoyed ithad they not dragged it out.

Very annoying musical fairytale romp with NOT ONE memorable song! - Into the Woods review by PV

Firstly, let me say the main reason I disliked this movie was that it was based on a musical by Stephen Sondheim who is world famous for managing to write very many musicals without including a memorable hit song in any of them (well, except 'Send in the Clowns').

In this, the whole movie is played with that singing-speaking voice - as in the similarly annoying Les Miserables (though that at least has a memorable song in it). I CANNOT STAND modern musicals like this - listen to GREAT musicals by the Sherman Brothers (Mary Poppins + many others) or Rogers and Hart and see just how much musical theatre has declined in recent decades. There MUST by hummable songs in a musical. Otherwise, why bother?

As someone else has said, there is also an extraneous and unnecessary 30 minutes on the end of this film - this has become common in Hollywood movies - in fact it's practically a cliché now. LONG 2 hour plus movies with a 'false' happy ending half an hour from the end, then some post-modern tricksy guff dragging the whole thing out. This film should have ended 30 minutes before it did.

Having said all that, the intertwining of fairy tales is impressive and well-plotted (esp the original version of Cinderella where the sisters get their feet chopped off to fit the slipper, and where birds peck their eyes out) is used here. Some old British character actors like Frances De La Tour appear, as does the ever-watchable Johnny Depp and Meryl Streep. All this stuff is good. The film does not shy away from death or characters dying either - refreshing in a children's/family movie.

The best song is probably the 'it's your fault' song which raised a laugh (SO TRUE TO LIFE!) and there were a couple of other laugh out loud moments too.

But the music is JUST not good enough or strong enough. I can see children being very bored by a lot of this too.

The music gets NO stars.

The acting, story and SFX get 2.

Worth watching on a wet afternoon, but prepare to be annoyed and only occasionally entertained!

Absolutely Awful - Into the Woods review by CS

I am not a musical fan but even so the music was turgid and unmemorable. What a waste of such talented actors. The story is a mish-mash of nursery rhymes and fairy tales painfully woven into one story. I barely managed to sit through it.