Cast: A lot of people clearly wanted in on this. Queen Meryl is getting most of the attention, although I wouldn't say she's dramatically better than everyone else. Emily Blunt, James Corden, Anna Kendrick, Chris Pine, Johnny Depp, Tracy Ullman, Christine Baranski, and all the people who's names I don't know are all good even though some have surprisingly little screen time. All were chosen well for their singing ability...well, most.
Plot: A baker (Corden) and his wife (Blunt) needs to remove a witch's (Streep) curse in order to have a child. The items they must gather intertwine with the lives of Cinderella (Kendrick), Prince Charming (Pine), Little Red Riding Hood (Lilla Crawford), Jack of the beanstalk fame (Daniel Huttlestone), Rapunzel (Mackenzie Mauzy), and others. The best word I can use for the intertwining is 'clever' and it's all handled with a proper balance of heft and humor. I think my one issue with the story is that the ending is nowhere near as big as I expected. With a musical, you assume, "big final number" and it doesn't have that. You almost realize after the fact that you watched the climax. It was a strange choice...or execution. I'm not sure which.
Elephant in the Room: I hear this was a stage musical first. I am aware of the show and that it is much more grim than the movie. It's one of those cases where the purists can choose to be very angry over all the changes or they can cool it and accept that it's something different. From my perspective though, it's very clear in the movie that it is both a stage production and grim. All sorts of beats in the movie (never fully showing the giant or Cinderella's ball and Jack in the giant world happening off camera) were designed for the limitations of a stage. That didn't take away from the movie. It just made its roots very obvious. As for the grim-ness, sure they changed Rapunzel's fate and toned down some of the baker's wife's actions (I looked some things up), but this is still pretty grim. Little Red Riding Hood is constantly a beat or two away from being Roxy from God Bless America and this is far from a standard happy Disney ending.
To Sum Things Up:
This is a smart inversion of the classic fairy tale (a phrase I feel like I'm saying more and more these days) and the music is quite catchy. The actors are all having a lot of fun, which can go a long way. My biggest worry is that it won't be what people expect. Fans of the musical may get turned off by the changes and people new to it may get turned off by the darker tone of it. I liked it, but I can see how this would be divisive. A lot of strong singers in this though, so if that's all you're looking for, I can't imagine you'll be disappointed.
Verdict (?): Weakly Recommend
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