Into the Woods Official Movie Thread- Page 187

[Bucky Builder]

Posted: 1/1/15 at 2:04pm

"I'm saying people have been saying the same critical things about the resolution of Into the Woods for the last quarter century."

Yes you make a valid point. Many have always had a problem with the 2nd act. However, reading the reviews, it seems like most critics who know the show had problems with the darker elements being removed from the show in order to make it more family friendly. Everything seems to still be there for the most part but the darker stuff is tip toed around. I DO understand why Lapine and Rob chose to do that (with the big mouse breathing down necks left and right). For me, personally, the gut of the show is in act 2. It's why we love Into the woods so much and it wasn't handled with care in the film. Just my opinion.

"I'm sure that Disney thought that a PG rating would make sense. It obviously didn't. Sex is implied a number of times and their attempt to tiptoe around death is ridiculous.
Marshall is not a strong enough director to pull off Sondheim. He must not have completely understood the whole second half because it came off as dull, long, and boring"

Absolutely agree. Updated On: 1/1/15 at 02:04 PM

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 1/1/15 at 2:51pm

So, J_Jammer has literally never posted about anything but this movie. And he can't let a single criticism of it go by unchecked. He can't even let a single comment about what might have been done differently go by unchecked. Curious, no?

[Mrtrobz]

Posted: 1/1/15 at 3:20pm

I hope Disney can start to revive the movie musical, already they have Jungle Book and Beauty and the Beast in the pipeline I certainly wouldn't mind them bringing it back into regularity.

[J_Jammer]

Posted: 1/1/15 at 4:22pm

It's the only musical I actually like.

and the Big Mouse wasn't breathing down his neck. Tgere were compromises that hed to be made. I don't see how it's not darker in the film. Considering there's no happy final song to lighten the mood where you see the whole cast back.

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 1/1/15 at 4:24pm

Well, at least there's an expiration date on your postings!

[Bucky Builder]

Posted: 1/1/15 at 4:33pm

"and the Big Mouse wasn't breathing down his neck. Tgere were compromises that hed to be made. I don't see how it's not darker in the film. Considering there's no happy final song to lighten the mood where you see the whole cast back"

Wow you completely changed my mind. Thanks!

[ljay889]

Posted: 1/1/15 at 4:51pm

The Soundtrack is now up to #19 on the billboard top 200 and #3 on top soundtracks. Hopefully it keeps rising!

[Mr. Nowack]

Posted: 1/1/15 at 6:19pm

I do wish they had made the final "Into The Woods" reprise an actual part of the film (and that they had kept the recurring reprises). I thought without it there was a lack of closure, leaving them in the woods.

[Showface]

Posted: 1/1/15 at 6:21pm

In one of the drafts (the one that was leaked), it had that song play as VO as the characters were led out of the woods by a magically formed leaf path.

[icecreambenjamin]

Posted: 1/1/15 at 6:34pm

I didn't like that they made the giant look like a person. She should've been a huge scary hag so that the audience didn't feel like the main characters were horrible murderers. I kind of felt bad that they were killing this giant old woman.

[Kad]

Posted: 1/1/15 at 6:40pm

...that's kind of the whole point. The Giant IS a person.

[Showface]

Posted: 1/1/15 at 6:47pm

Aren't you supposed to feel bad for her...

"the giant's a person too...aren't we to show forgiveness"


She just wanted to avenge the death of her husband, and the robbery and rampaging that took place in her home.

[Len6677]

Posted: 1/1/15 at 7:12pm

Yeah I agree, you're supposed to feel bad for the giant. I always felt bad for her in the Broadway version too. There's no evil characters in Into the Woods. The group's two choices are kill her or send Jack to his death, so it's done only out of necessity. That's what makes Riding Hood's exchange with Cinderella before "No One Is Alone" such an important moment in the show.

[Hagenisnotakitty]

Posted: 1/1/15 at 8:43pm

Just saw it again. It’s true (for me anyway) what people said about it being better the second time. After knowing what to expect, I found the tonal shift and the transition to Act II to be point-by-point flawless. The movie didn’t drag as much for me this time. Given, I DO still think that a lot of the poignancy and punch got lost in the translation, but the film was WORLDS more entertaining this time around.

The only think that got worse, I think, was Anna Kendrick. Her performance during Act I is perfectly presentable…she’s mostly charming, but gets outshined by better performances. During act II, however, she seemed “charming, not sincere”. Her Cinderella only gets seems to get more wooden and passive as the third act wears on. I can’t really explain why, but Cinderella always felt like the most important out of all the non Baker/Baker’s Wife/Witch group. She grows from being a passive child to delivering a very adult truth during No One Is Alone (I still miss the cut bits from that. It wasn’t nearly as touching on screen.) Anna’s Cinderella doesn’t seem to really change at all. Still, not nearly enough to ruin the film for me.

I just hope the film holds up in home video format. Les Miserables betrayed me once the screen got smaller, and I saw that twice in theaters as well.

[J_Jammer]

Posted: 1/1/15 at 8:47pm

I don't feel sorry for the giant's wife.

She was welcoming to Jack and Jack welcomed that welcome...but then her husband went ballistic. If he wasn't so abusive in his ways, there wouldn't have been an incident.

[icecreambenjamin]

Posted: 1/1/15 at 8:51pm

Yes but it made me really dislike the characters. It didn't read very well on screen. In the musical you get that they're in a big moral dilemma and because they don't show the giantess, you feel bad for her, but you don't walk away from the theatre talking about how horrible the characters are.

The giantess' death was kind of horrific in the film. They couldn't show Jack's mother's death or Rapunzel 's but they could show the characters beating the giantess to death with rocks?

This whole scene disturbed me because my theatre erupted into laughter both times. They thought that this woman being stoned to death was funny. It was one of many things that got the wrong reaction.

They laughed at Little Red saying "aren't we to show forgiveness?" Too.

[J_Jammer]

Posted: 1/1/15 at 8:51pm

@Bucky Builder

"Wow you completely changed my mind. Thanks!"

When I watched the musical the following Friday after I saw the film, the tone wasn't as dark as people make it out to be. It's dark, but the film is darker in tone and in the way it's presented. It's less light. In the musical they all come back and sing the final song and despite the lyrics not being as pleasant as the first go around, they still have a tone of levity and it alters how one feels (me for sure) about the end being so down in the dumps.

I might see it again on Saturday.

@Phyllis Rogers Stone

For someone that likes musicals, you sure are grumpy.
Updated On: 1/1/15 at 08:51 PM

[J_Jammer]

Posted: 1/1/15 at 8:57pm

@icecreambenjamin

I didn't feel that way about the characters. Them stopping her from marching around as if she had no care who she stepped on was necessary.

They showed Jacks' mother's death. He shoved her and then they showed her dying. Rapunzel didn't die. The Baker's Wife died, but that wasn't shown.

The point isn't to be fully behind anyone and their decisions in this musical. They all make terrible choices that end up costing them.

[Bucky Builder]

Posted: 1/1/15 at 9:05pm

"When I watched the musical the following Friday after I saw the film, the tone wasn't as dark as people make it out to be. It's dark, but the film is darker in tone and in the way it's presented. It's less light. In the musical they all come back and sing the final song and despite the lyrics not being as pleasant as the first go around, they still have a tone of levity and it alters how one feels (me for sure) about the end being so down in the dumps."

Wow! You blew my mind AGAIN! Thanks!

[KathyNYC2]

Posted: 1/1/15 at 9:16pm

No one laughed when the giant was killed either time I saw it.

And the giant IS a real person so I was fine seeing her face (though I have to admit it was hard not to place the actress at the ball with Hagrid in Harry Potter 4) and we can feel sorry for her and be angry with her at the same time.

And giants may be bad or they may be good. No one is perfect here. Both giants had a right to be upset but the destruction the giant's wife was causing was affecting innocent people so it was her or them. But you feel bad for the giant - you feel badly for everyone. If Jack didn't go up the beanstalk to take stuff, the giants would not have come down. If Jack's mother didn't throw away his beans, there would never have been a beanstalk. If the Bakers wouldn't have scammed Jack so they could have a child, he would not have had the beans. If Jack's father didn't steal the beans...it never ends.

Nothing is black and white - that's the point.

[Len6677]

Posted: 1/1/15 at 9:18pm

icecreambenjamin, I will agree with you that seeing the giant's face made the killing even more uncomfortable. I still can't believe the way those people were acting in your theater. It's impossible to experience it the way it's supposed to be experienced in that environment.

[J_Jammer]

Posted: 1/1/15 at 9:28pm

And if the Witch's mother didn't raise the beans to begin with...

[J_Jammer]

Posted: 1/1/15 at 9:29pm

Dear Bucky,

If I wasn't far more sarcastic than you, I'd fall for your attempt. I do buy you condescending tone.

[jpbran]

Posted: 1/1/15 at 9:34pm

Spoliers (SURELY not needed, but...)


Many people have mentioned "Mrs. Baker's" death is a sort of "slut shaming," punishment for straying; part of the sometimes deadly moralizing in fairy tales. BUT is it actually a story point to prevent feeling TOO sorry for the giantess? The show's most relatable/lovable character loses her life due to the huge, angry stomping while being completely unconnected to Jack's deeds "in the sky" despite providing him with the beans... (has probably been said before)

[henrikegerman]

Posted: 1/1/15 at 11:36pm

So, Icecreambenjamin, if the Giant's wife had been uglier, less "human," you would have felt better about her being killed?

You may want to take a look at that.