Disney’s Into the Woods Fails to Deliver

Ilse Sweldens, Staff Writer

Rob Marshall’s film adaptation of Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine’s Into the Woods debuted this Christmas, and, despite its star-studded cast, vibrant musical numbers, and competent acting, it stumbles due to its muddled tone and flawed pacing. Into the Woods combines various traditional fairy tales with an original story about a childless baker by sending all of the characters into the dark, mysterious forest. James Corden (Begin Again, Doctor Who) leads as the Baker, with Emily Blunt (Edge of Tomorrow, Looper) starring alongside him as the Baker’s Wife. Meryl Streep, Anna Kendrick, Chris Pine, and Johnny Depp appear in supporting roles.

The primary flaw in the film is its confused tone. Into the Woods is at some moments dramatic and gruesome, and at others humorous and self-aware. These two elements of the tone collide clumsily. On one hand, Cinderella’s ability to control birds with singing is mocked by the other characters, and this ability is portrayed as somewhat ridiculous. However, the birds also participate in one of the most horrifying and cruel actions of the entire film. Into the Woods tries to poke fun at the original fairy tales while still seriously utilizing their strangely gruesome and overdramatic elements. Chris Pine and Billy Magnussen, the two princes, perform “Agony,” a comedic number pointing out the vain, melodramatic, and superficial qualities of the princes, and one of the few laugh-out-loud funny moments of the film. However, later on, the subplot involving Magnussen’s romance is played for drama, and Magnussen is once again the charming and noble prince. 

The moments of comedy actually weaken the dramatic moments. These contradictory elements cause the movie to falter.

The second major flaw in the film is a result of its clumsy adaptation from its Broadway origins. Into the Woods was originally a two act musical, but the film is in three. The musical’s second act is condensed into the film’s third act. As a result, the original musical’s shift in tone that occurs between the two acts instead occurs near the end of the film. The end of the musical’s first act could easily be misunderstood for a complete ending, so in the film the sudden switch and the new storylines appear jarring and unnecessary. New ideas and characters are crammed into a small amount of time, along with many significant plot points. The rushed ending heavily weakens the film’s attempt at creating a message, as events occur so suddenly and in such quick succession that there appears to be no rhyme or reason to them.

Disney’s attempt at a dark and subversive retelling of classic tales, despite its clearly competent cast, ultimately fails due to its poor handling of tone.