Into the Woods

It is a brave concept to set famous childhood tales like Little Red Riding Hood, Cinderella, Rapunzel, Cinderella and Jack and the Bean Stalk to music and then mash them all up into one super tale. This is what Stephen Sondheim did when his musical appeared on the Broadway stage in 1987 and now the Disney company has released its film version of 'Into the Woods'.

The first two thirds of the film is a fairly straight retelling of these stories but the final third turns rather dark. As cautionary tales each of the stories contains grim moments that might well frighten younger viewers. The film has a laugh at itself at moments during the final third, perhaps to balance the darker turn.

Sondheim's music seemed to lack variety to me but his lyrics are undeniably clever. The tunes fitted the tales quite naturally. I thought Lilla Crawford and Daniel Huttlestone (respectively Red Riding Hood and Jack) were outstanding whilst Emily Blunt shines in her every scene.

We attended a session heavily patronised by large family groups and the children amongst them seemed to maintain their attention to the film throughout.
★★★