Movie Review: Into the Woods

As is tradition on Christmas, I went to see a movie as theaters (and Starbucks) are one of the few things open on that holiday. While everyone was downloading and streaming The Interview, I decided to watch Into the Woods.

Into the Woods is a musical that incorporates many of your favorite fairy tales and childhood stories like Cinderella, Little Red Riding Hood, etc. In high school, my musical theater class put on this play so I really wanted to see the movie version. It stars Emily Blunt, Anna Kendrick, Chris Pine, Meryl Streep and more.

So the story is about a baker and the baker's wife. They are tasked by the witch to go into the woods to find a cow as white as milk, a cape as red as blood, a slipper as pure as gold and hair as yellow as corn. On their journey, they come across Little Red trying to get to grandmother's house (while getting entangled with Johnny Depp's Big Bad Wolf); Jack and his magical beans, Rapunzel, Cinderella and a couple of charming princes.

The story proceeds pretty much as the fairy tales say, but with a lot of musical interludes. Although there might have been a few too many songs here and there, the movie was quite funny and I loved the acting. Chris Pine, Emily Blunt and Meryl Streep dazzle. My favorite song was Agony--I truly suggest you go listen to it now. Into the Woods does a fantastic job at poking fun at the typical fairy tale story. At one point, Emily's character even says something to the nature of "I think I'm in the wrong story." The only thing I would drop it down for would be that it probably could have been 30 minutes shorter, but I could say that for so many movies these days.

Rating: ♥♥♥

Other movies I'd like to see before the year is over: