Audiences compiling collections of favorite plays on film to retain some of the great theatre experiences in "West Side Story", "Little Shop of Horrors", and "Chicago" will now have "PHANTOM" at last! But unless you have a 72" plasma screen, see it in a movie theater!!
I dismissed the film critics of this film because, ironically, they all noted the same criticisms lauded by theatre critics when the play first debuted.....and then continued for over a decade and still continues, solidifying the belief that what people don't like in the play will not be improved in the movie, and what people loved will be enhanced, with the obvious absence of the energy a live performance presents.
While I am one of those people that LIKE "Stage Adaptations" (it should be a whole designation in itself, like "Documentary" and "Comedy"), I have never been a huge fan of the play,"Phantom." Accordingly, I loved the film, not crazy about the story, but straddling the fence, I found this an enjoyable movie that had some slow parts.
Many films attempt the feat of adapting plays-Broadway Musical Plays- for the screen, but only a few have effectively captured the essence of the PLAY, which is in itself defeatist to movies...generally. Why put "Oklahoma" on a stylized set when the whole glorious, open state is there to be filmed? So while having characters' conversations suddenly break out in song for no good reason in the play is great, doing so in a film narrative is sometimes difficult for audiences, exceptions given to most Disney movies.
Films are not to blame, for they are a visual medium that are expected to expand through the obvious limitations of a live stage set with a limited budget. And don't blame the play...it was written to deliver a wonderful entertainment on a live stage set with a limited budget. So that leaves the audience.
If you like Broadway musicals, this is a great film that retains the play's theatrical roots, and gloriously expounds on the famous over-the-top sets and effects that helped revive live theatre. Visually this movie is a stunner. You have to admire the scenes dressed with a stylized set worthy of an Art Direction Academy Award, and Schumacher's flamboyant style which does them justice! The lighting, sound, and visual effects all give the film-goer a great night at the theatre.
Unfortunately, if you do NOT like Broadway musicals, the movie also retains the melodramatic acting, repetitive score and length that also is the nature of the play.
Minnie Driver is wonderfully comedic if you understand what she's saying, especially in the "Prima Dona" number. And Rossum is a surprising singing talent, at least to those who only know her as a dead girl (Mystic River), and as a frigid damsel-in-distress (Day After Tomorrow), like myself. Regardless of this film, her performance will catapult her...at the very least onto the New York stage.
No one will be frightened from this film, although some effectively eerie scenes remind us the Phantom is SUPPOPSED to be a scary story. But, again, this is foremost MUSICAL THEATRE, and thus a love story, so the mask just accents the chiseled features of the most handsome Phantom who must have found the world's best tailor somewhere in the Parisian sewer system.
This is one of those wonderful films for theatre fans who want to gift wrap their evening at a live performance up and watch it anytime. I will put the DVD right between "How To Succeed in Business Without Really Trying" and "The King and I."
Now, if "The Producers" can accomplish something similar next year.....
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