Film Review
A walk in the woods can be peaceful,
undisturbed, and a time of reflection upon
nature’s serenity. Step into the woods and you’ll
hear the fragile harmonies of the birds’ chirping
and the subtle rustling of such wise and gentle
trees.
Well, at least that’s what I thought until I
witnessed the madness of Into the Woods; a
melodrama brimming with displays of energetic
and far-fetched fantasy. This particular film
stands out through its fantasy genre crossover
of many magical Grimm Brother fairy tales.
As always, Little Red Riding Hood innocently
walks through the woodland to return to her
grandmother’s house and while her brief
meeting with the wolf is expected, Into the
Woods creates her fortuitous encounter with
the characters of Jack and The Beanstalk,
Cinderella, and Rapunzel.
The story first follows the lives of a baker and
his wife who are struggling for both money and
the wish of having a child. Their neighbour, a
spiteful and mysterious witch, promises to lift a
curse laid upon them, giving them the chance
to start a family. All fortune will be returned at
the cost of four items requested by the witch; a
cow as white as milk, a cape as red as blood,
hair as yellow as corn, and a slipper as pure
as gold. And so the baker and his wife eagerly
trail ‘into the woods’, unaware of what they will
find as they forage further into the darkness.
As for Cinderella, Rapunzel and Jack and the
Beanstalk, the stories are the pretty much
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the same as the originals, apart from the vital
alternative of ending up in the woods.
Being the narrative voice and playing the
character of the baker, James Cordon stars
as the protagonist of the film and we see him
making his big, theatrical debut. Many other big
names star alongside Cordon including Emily
Blunt as the bakers wife, Meryl Streep as the
evil witch, Anna Kendrick as Cinderella, and
Johnny Depp as the wolf.
I can see the reasoning behind the title of Into
the woods, because it is sung and spoken more
times than the world combined have eaten
cooked dinners! The singing only adds to the
whimsical and lighthearted nature of the film,
creating elements of enchanted surprise and
mystical spirit. However, do not be fooled by
such moments of joy because the ending will
give you a shock, and leave you questioning if
things really do end ‘happily ever after’.
Megan Parker