Into the Woods

Finally glad to be back watching movies!  And wow what a wonderful one to start back with!  I was skeptical going into these woods with a cast that is not known for it's singing abilities with the exception of Anna Kendrick (I don't count Meryl Streep's singing performance in Mama Mia! as a good singing performance).  As we've seen in the past, with Les Miserables, it can make for great acting but much lower-quality vocal abilities (ala Russell Crowe as Javert).  Similar to reading a book before watching a movie, watching a quality vocal performance before seeing its movie counterpart can destroy the movie experience.
Happily, this was not the case with Into the Woods.

I was very impressed with the costuming, singing, and acting from all members of the cast.  Meryl Streep is definitely deserving of her Oscar nomination for best supporting actress for this role.  Emily Blunt is a surprisingly good singer, and Chris Pine was both devilishly handsome and just an outright devil in the role of Cinderella's Prince.  Together with Billy Magnussen, the song "Agony" was as funny as ever!

The younger actors, Daniel Huttleston's "Jack" from Jack and the Bean Stalk and Lilla Crawford's "Little Red Riding Hood" were refreshingly brilliant.  Holding their own with seasoned actors, these youth added to the story with their intensity and innocence that lent to their characters' ignorances - ignorances which contributed to the problems that the storyline portrays.

Kendrick's singing was great, her acting was somewhat overshadowed by Blunt, Corden, Streep, Pine, Huttleston, and Crawford.  The stepmother and step-sisters were a bit cliche in the casting - particularly since Lucy Punch was reprising her role as the more evil of the two step-sisters. I will give Christine Baranski credit for being a more evil step-mother since she performs the role as intended by both Sondheim and the Brothers Grimm.

With the casting, the cinematography, music, and costumes, this really was a wonderful film.  I would highly recommend seeing it! (Regardless of whether or not you've seen the stage version).