puppetmaker (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
puppetmaker) wrote2005-01-25 09:37 am
puppetmaker) wrote2005-01-25 09:37 am
Phantom of the Opera (the Movie): A Review
Behind the cut is anything I think might be spoilers and I erred on the side of the cut rather than have someone blast me for giving something away. So the replies do NOT have to be spoiler free. If you don’t want spoilers then don’t read behind the cut or the replies because I am telling you at the get go that both will probably contain that which you wish not to see/read.
Overall it was pretty good. I enjoyed it. I took Ariel who has never seen the stage version so for her it was a totally new experience. For me it was the stage show with camera angles, a slightly larger budget, and a few additions to the script mostly in the second act.
Understand that I am a Phantom Fan. I think I saw it from all angles including the stage managers stand back when it opened. I saw Crawford perform the Phantom at least 5 times. I knew every line and every song. I could have practically called the show by that point. I occasionally pull out the CD and listen to it bringing back memories of the time. I found the movie satisfying but....
Crawford will always be the definitive Phantom to me. Gerard Butler does a very nice job with the role and most of the problems I have with his Phantom are not actor choices but director, casting director, and make-up. Crawford is not a big person and he is not ruggedly handsome both of which Butler is. Crawford’s make-up had to read from the last row but still allow him to sing the role in a theater. They had a little more latitude with Butler’s make-up but made him look like a slightly bad burned victim rather than say the hideous reveal with Lon Chaney Sr (Another performance I put all my Phantoms to). That really bothered me. Butler’s singing was fine and he hit most of the nuances that Crawford made his own but again I am so use to hearing the Crawford version those notes hit me as wrong even though I know they are not. Butler does do a good job of the pent up anger, love, and self-loathing of the character.
I did like the use of black and white for the present and color for the past. The color choices were vivid. The costumes looked like upscale versions of the stage costumes. Nothing really new unless you are into men in sexy shirts with heaving chests. The opera costumes were much closer to those of the time but I think that has more to do with quick changes rather than costume budgets. I think Masquerade could have used a lot more color than it had. I know it is in contrast to the Phantom but still there is a larger color pallet they could have used.
Emmy Rossum was better than Sarah Brightman who I never really thought was the amazing singer she was made out to be. I really liked her understudy better than her in the stage play but then that’s me. Rossum is the right age, shape, and voice for Christine. She does well with the arc of the character and her damsel in distress is very well done. Minnie Driver I did not recognize until I saw her name in the credits but she does an admirable job as Carlotta the Diva. Part of what made her character was her entourage. That was brilliant casting of the characters around her. Miranda Richardson was understated as Madame Giry but wonderful. She lurks in corners with the best of them and she did have the exposition monologue. I recognized her about half way through when the phrase “Who’s Queen?” ran across my brain.
Raoul is really a thankless role except he gets the girl in the end. Patrick Wilson did just fine in the role as the handsome man with lots of money who happens to love Christine. His chest did heave nicely. Ciaran Hinds and Simon Callow had very solid performances as Andre and Firmin the new owners of the Opera House. They are sort of the comic commentary on the situation. The rest of the cast did very well with the roles they played.
There was not really any additional music but then the run time on the stage play is long enough for a movie and there is no intermission. As I have said before, I felt I was watching the stage play with camera angles. They mucked more with act 2 than act 1 but act 2 has been sort of the weaker act of the stage play anyway.
So final conclusion, I enjoyed it and want to see it again but could wait for DVD rather than seeing it in the theater.
I am grateful for Phantom of the Opera in all its forms.
Overall it was pretty good. I enjoyed it. I took Ariel who has never seen the stage version so for her it was a totally new experience. For me it was the stage show with camera angles, a slightly larger budget, and a few additions to the script mostly in the second act.
Understand that I am a Phantom Fan. I think I saw it from all angles including the stage managers stand back when it opened. I saw Crawford perform the Phantom at least 5 times. I knew every line and every song. I could have practically called the show by that point. I occasionally pull out the CD and listen to it bringing back memories of the time. I found the movie satisfying but....
Crawford will always be the definitive Phantom to me. Gerard Butler does a very nice job with the role and most of the problems I have with his Phantom are not actor choices but director, casting director, and make-up. Crawford is not a big person and he is not ruggedly handsome both of which Butler is. Crawford’s make-up had to read from the last row but still allow him to sing the role in a theater. They had a little more latitude with Butler’s make-up but made him look like a slightly bad burned victim rather than say the hideous reveal with Lon Chaney Sr (Another performance I put all my Phantoms to). That really bothered me. Butler’s singing was fine and he hit most of the nuances that Crawford made his own but again I am so use to hearing the Crawford version those notes hit me as wrong even though I know they are not. Butler does do a good job of the pent up anger, love, and self-loathing of the character.
I did like the use of black and white for the present and color for the past. The color choices were vivid. The costumes looked like upscale versions of the stage costumes. Nothing really new unless you are into men in sexy shirts with heaving chests. The opera costumes were much closer to those of the time but I think that has more to do with quick changes rather than costume budgets. I think Masquerade could have used a lot more color than it had. I know it is in contrast to the Phantom but still there is a larger color pallet they could have used.
Emmy Rossum was better than Sarah Brightman who I never really thought was the amazing singer she was made out to be. I really liked her understudy better than her in the stage play but then that’s me. Rossum is the right age, shape, and voice for Christine. She does well with the arc of the character and her damsel in distress is very well done. Minnie Driver I did not recognize until I saw her name in the credits but she does an admirable job as Carlotta the Diva. Part of what made her character was her entourage. That was brilliant casting of the characters around her. Miranda Richardson was understated as Madame Giry but wonderful. She lurks in corners with the best of them and she did have the exposition monologue. I recognized her about half way through when the phrase “Who’s Queen?” ran across my brain.
Raoul is really a thankless role except he gets the girl in the end. Patrick Wilson did just fine in the role as the handsome man with lots of money who happens to love Christine. His chest did heave nicely. Ciaran Hinds and Simon Callow had very solid performances as Andre and Firmin the new owners of the Opera House. They are sort of the comic commentary on the situation. The rest of the cast did very well with the roles they played.
There was not really any additional music but then the run time on the stage play is long enough for a movie and there is no intermission. As I have said before, I felt I was watching the stage play with camera angles. They mucked more with act 2 than act 1 but act 2 has been sort of the weaker act of the stage play anyway.
So final conclusion, I enjoyed it and want to see it again but could wait for DVD rather than seeing it in the theater.
I am grateful for Phantom of the Opera in all its forms.