I have a sinking feeling that it will be rated PG-13 due to the nature of the peice and that way parents WILL be aware that INTO THE WOODS isn't some light-hearted Disney fare.
Good. After a year and a half of endless and provocative yet insightful speculation, I'm planning to spend Christmas day anticipating, enjoying, and reliving the adventure. I don't want a room full of little monsters whose parents want them out of the house, but won't understand the subtleties of the piece, ruining my experience.
I don't think this is PG-13 worthy. I think it will be PG, but it will be pushing it PG-wise. The first three Harry Potter's were rated PG, as was the Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe. Is ITW more intense than those? No. Remember Into the Woods gets "dark" in the second half. The first half is PG, because of a wolf-killing, brief innuendos, and a scary-looking Witch. And the second half has off-screen deaths, and a brief scene of off-screen infidelity. While Harry Potter and Narnia, had many onscreen deaths, blood, frightening images, language, etc. They still scored a PG.
Guess I'm the Debbie Downer here today, the stills and the teaser look very pale and washed out. A lot of muted pastiche, Rembrandt stuff going on. It's not bad, and I'm not saying it needs to look like Baz Luhrmann, but I do hope we get a /tad/ more color.
Like others have said, this film is probably not fully color corrected yet, so I'll reserve judgment.
Trailers are often brightened and kinda washed out-- especially dark-looking movies. They have a lot to pack into seconds vs. minutes or hours, and want everything bright and easy to see.
^I can confirm that is her "fate." While of course I would have preferred her original demise, I didn't think the omitting dramatically changed the dynamic. I found the Witch singing Lament while watching her "daughter" ride away from her forever to still be pretty effective.
I'd say the version I saw was surprisingly close to the leaked draft. There are some deviations and minor cuts/changes from that draft, but in general, it has held up. If I recall correctly, most if not all of Lament was sung...but don't quote me. As a reminder though, I didn't see the film's final version, which is why I am hesitant to discuss too much of it.
^In the leaked draft, "On the Steps of the Palace" takes place frozen in time while "I Know Things Now" is a back and forth flashback song. When reading it, I think they can be pulled off very well.
^ So is the Witches Rap. Apparently, as of the first screening IKTN was not in flashback form. It could have been added back, in flashback form because Rob said he added in 3 character flashbacks during reshoots. They could be IKTH, Giants in the Sky, and the Rap.
It certainly sounds like good re-shoots then. My friend said that Little Red's song just didn't work at the first test screening, so it looks like they're really trying to make it work.
If the rest of the film was mostly faithful to the draft I read [and the trailer looked like it was], then we're all in for a treat.
There were, as previously mentioned, three flashbacks in the screening I saw last month. We see short glimpses of the glamorous Witch during the rap, very quick flashes of Jack climbing up and down the beanstalk during Giants and, well, some truly bizarre flashbacks during I Know Things Know. Unfortunately, I don't think they've quite cracked that song/sequence just yet, which is one of the very few issues I had with the film in general.
Just to reiterate, neither "sanitized" nor "Disney-fied" are words I would use to describe this film.
That's what my friend said about I Know Things Now. He suggested that cutting the song might help, but it seems like they did the re-shoots to fix it and perhaps extend Jack's flashbacks as well. I'm guessing the test screenings have been positive enough that Disney gave them a little more money to play with.
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