Into the Woods: A Melange Of Stories Makes a Magic Musical Movie for the Middle-Aged

Fairy tale purists like the formula. We grew up on in it and like to quote the memorized opening and closing of every fairy tale, “Once Upon a Time….happily ever after” like Scripture. But "Into The Woods" delights in un-doing the formula and spiking it with something a little stronger and darker.

I didn’t see the musical, but several fellow filmgoers did and applauded after each musical number as if they were on Broadway. For the rest of the audience, there was plenty of wonder and interest in this latest adult tribute to “un-happily ever after.”

Similar to several other re-vamped fairy tale movies (Hoodwinked, Unhappily Ever After, Enchanted) “Into the Woods” deconstructs a fairy tale by giving us more facts than fiction. Every character develops distinct personalities, including the witch. For those of you who have read my earlier blogs, you know that I am also a witch purist and believe that witches are only evil and don’t deserve a backstory.

Red Riding Hood is a fresh-mouthed girl, The Wolf is perverse, Cinderella is conflicted, Prince Charming is a fornicator, Jack is as dumb as they come (and abused), The Baker and his wife are a modern couple with modern problems like infertility and typical young couple power struggles. Rapunzel, well her mother is the witch so… And the Witch is trying to overcome her own failings and come to terms with herself as a mother by not becoming her own mother.  In essence, the characters represent a microcosm of humanity instead of being standards of fairy tale perfection. This transition will confuse children and sadly, remind adults of our own un-fairy tale like lives. However, the catchy tunes- anthems of adult angst -soon make you forget your troubles as you start humming along.

All these stories are interwoven with the Witch being at the epicenter of the characters eventual convergence. These are also not the Disney fairy tales most of us grew up with; they incorporate some of the older, more medieval versions- which are in print so you can read up on why Cinderella spends so much time at her mother’s grave and why her stepsisters get their parts amputated.

The action moves at a decent pace so everyone can keep up with the story, which is somewhat complicated and absolutely convoluted.But I won’t spoil that for you.

The movie commits several of the same sins it chides the fairy tale world for. Unexplained things just happen. The giant is still a big, dumb giant. Several of the characters just sort of…die. I don’t mind the unexplained, weird, and wonderful. That’s what makes fairy tales and musicals great. But there is an apparent visual struggle between trying to logically explain fairy tale events while creating a few more.  

The singing is great, though a little tinny at times, similar to Hugh Jackman’s vocal performance in Les Mis. However, even Johnny Depp’s voice sounds very good. Meryl Streep hits the notes. Unlike Les Mis, the singing voices of these actors seem much more appropriate for an adapted Broadway musical. The casting is not just a bunch of celebrities straining their voices. They pull it off.

The cinematography is more eerie than fantastical, more weird, than wonderful. Defensibly, most of the movie does take place in the woods so I guess the darker lighting and mood are justified. You become totally immersed into a slightly sinister world where unfortunately, the trees don’t move or give advice. Still, there is more than enough of that “woods feel” to hint that it’s not a good place to be.  The CGI is good, not great. No biddidi-bobbodi-boo for Cinderella and she has to run home from the ball (yes, on foot).

While I loved the music and seeing some familiar actors in interesting roles, I still feel ambivalent about the cynical turn on fairy tales. Kids today are being robbed of a bit of innocence. Adults are plunged into stories that mirror sad realities instead of being transported into a dreamiverse. I’m not sure that there needs to be a moral dilemma about ambushing and killing a greedy giant or the fact that the witch is clearly to blame! Witches are just evil. Hopefully, at some point, Hollywood gets the memo.

Into the Woods is a great movie production with plenty of applause worthy moments. There is plenty of fun in it, but stops short of pure exuberance. I’m amazed at how these vastly different stories were believably intertwined, but it makes the plot almost too busy as if the writer(s) wanted the challenge of layering a bunch of stories just because.

Into the Woods is a foot-tapping, tongue-in-cheek, upscale drama for the discriminating fairy tale reader. Mirth mixes with reality to produce an adult-friendly bedtime story that you can hum.