REVIEW - INTO THE WOODS

Into the Woods is a dark, quirky and hilarious take on a handful of Grimm Brothers' fairy tales. Red Riding Hood, Cinderella, Jack (of the Beanstalk) and Rapunzel are drawn together by the quest of a Baker and his wife to break a curse of barrenness placed on their house by a Witch. 

It is always fun to see characters from different fables plunged together in the same universe, and Into the Woods does it particularly well, with plenty of humour and a stunning cast. By turning these tales on their heads the morals of each story also shift. For some characters this works smoothly, but for others it leaves their fate and their message a little confused. However, you probably will not notice this, unless you are really paying attention, as the humour, music and visuals take centre stage. 

The songs of Into the Woods set it apart from other fairy tale films. It starts boldly and loudly with 'I Wish', in which all the protagonists complications are introduced, and just seems to go from strength to strength as the story progresses. The lyrics are full of dark humour and, but manage catchiness and fun as well. The film boasts a stellar cast including Meryl Streep as the Witch, Anna Kendrick as Cinderella, Chris Pine as Prince Charming, James Corden as the Baker and Emily Blunt as his Wife. The cast worked wonderfully together, featuring a kind of group chemistry, in both the music and drama, that is central to a successful musical. The Blunt and Corden Duo was particularly memorable, truly capturing the frustration both men and women feel in troubled relationships.

Into the Woods certainly gets you laughing in ways you would not expect. The humour is very tongue-in-cheek or self-aware, almost poking fun at musicals while being a musical. A prime example is the duet of the two princes. Both the prince of Rapunzel and Cinderella feature, so they are written as brothers. Upon a chance encounter in the Woods, they break into a competitive sing-off comparing the agony of their love-stricken hearts. Both behaving as very much the archetype of a prince, they use melodrama to point out just how ridiculous the traditional 'prince' character is. The result is truly hilarious. 

In this day and age of what seems a constant stream of fairy tale reboots, the way Into the Woods keeps some of the dark edge of the original Grimm’s Fairy Tales is refreshing, as is its lack of concern whether or not the characters end up ‘Happily Ever After’. While it is very entertaining, towards the end all of the mixed up tales do get a bit confusing, and the ending may leave you wondering what the hell it was that you just saw.

Whatever it was I did see though, it was definitely worth seeing.