Full disclosure I
did not read all these pages, but here are my thoughts. Perhaps similar ones have been shared.
My favourite parts hands down were the opening number and "Your Fault/Last Midnight." I thought both were staged and filmed wonderfully. Especially the part where Red went literally into the woods. I do wish they had left in some of the reprises of the title song though, I love them onstage. On the whole the movie was wonderfully done, with singing from the first moment to the last, and the numbers were set up and executed beautifully. The cast were all perfect for their roles and sang/acted beautifully.
One exception though: the whole wolf aspect was a mess! Johnny Depp was corny as hell, and I thought it was bizarre how they showed Red going into the cottage then showed it again a minute later as a flashback. What?? Pick one or the other! Though I thought "I Know things Now" was done quite well, and I was wary about it.
I still missed Rapunzel's death. Without it the Witch didn't have a reason to be so bitter about giving Jack to the Giant's Wife and her second act story arc was waaaaay diminished. Though Meryl on a whole of course was wonderful. And Billy Magnussen in those pants...
Honestly I'm glad they didn't go overboard showing the offstage happenings. Just because they can doesn't mean they should. Movie audiences have imaginations too.
I missed "Ever After" and "So Happy" a lot. Without them there was no depiction of everyone's discontent with their happily ever afters. Yes it doesn't have two acts but that break in the action is tremendously important to the developments of the second act and I think that's why that whole section felt lacking. It was all just glossed over and there was no point where it crossed over from what we know to what's new.
On the whole it was a respectful yet different interpretation. It had the essence and message of the show, along with most of the best parts. Yeah some of my favorite parts were left out but that's what the show is for. And that's the problem with adaptations of properties that are wildly popular with a small audience: you can't change too much for fear of disappointing fans even when it means making it into a better translation.
As for the public's critiques of Sondheim's music, I don't agree with them but his songs do tend to have a similar sound and when you haven't listened to them hundreds of times as
some of us have they can sound very similar.
Keeping BroadwayWorld Illustrated