Into the Woods

Directed By: Rob Marshall
Screen Play By: James Lapine
Based On: Into the Woods by Stephen Sondheim James Lapine
Starring: Meryl Streep, Emily Blunt, James Corden, Anna Kendrick, Chris Pine, Tracey Ullman, Christine Baranski, Johnny Depp
Music By: Stephen Sondheim
Narrated By: James Corden
Produced By: Rob Marshall, John DeLuca, Marc Platt, Callum McDougall
Production: Walt Disney Pictures[1] Lucamar Productions[1] Marc Platt Productions[1]
Release Date: December 25, 2014 (United States)

Plot: A Baker and his wife wish for a child but suffer under a curse laid upon the Baker's family by a Witch. The Witch had previously found the baker's father robbing her garden when the baker's mother was pregnant, demanding their baby in return. Because the Baker's father also stole some magic beans, the Witch's own mother punished her with the curse of ugliness. The Witch is able to lift the curse and allow the Baker and his wife to have a child, but only if they obtain four critical items for a potion to break her curse first: a cow as white as milk, a cape as red as blood, hair as yellow as corn, and a slipper as pure as gold, none of which she is allowed to touch.

The Witch's demands eventually bring the Baker and his wife into contact with Jack, who is selling his beloved cow, Milky-White, and to whom the Baker offers the magic beans left to him by his father, which Jack's mother accidentally grows into a large beanstalk; with Red Riding Hood, whose red cape the couple noticed when she stopped by the bakery earlier to buy and steal bread and sweets on her way to her grandmother's house; with blonde-haired Rapunzel (the Witch's adopted daughter and Baker's biological sister), whose tower the Baker's wife finds in the woods; and with Cinderella, who runs into the Baker's wife while fleeing from the pursuing Prince and whose ball outfit includes gold slippers.[

After a series of failed attempts and misadventures, the Baker and his wife are finally able to gather the necessary items. After the Witch regains her youth and beauty after drinking the potion, each of the characters receives a "happy ending". The Baker and his wife have a son; Cinderella marries the Prince; Rapunzel is freed from the Witch by the Prince's brother, whom she marries; Jack provides for his mother by stealing riches from the Giant in the sky, courtesy of the beanstalk, and kills the pursuing Giant by cutting down the beanstalk; and Red Riding Hood and her grandmother are saved from the Big Bad Wolf.

However, each of the characters learn that their endings don't remain happy: the Baker is worried that he is a poor father to his newborn baby; the Baker's wife lets the Prince temporarily seduce her; Cinderella is disenchanted by her cheating Prince; and the Witch learns that she has lost her powers in exchange for her youth and beauty, after being rejected by Rapunzel, who then runs off with her Prince. The growth of a second beanstalk from the last remaining magic bean allows the Giant's widow to climb down and threaten the kingdom if no one delivers Jack in retribution for killing her husband. The characters attempt to find and protect Jack. In the process, Red Riding Hood's mother and grandmother, Jack's mother and the Baker's wife are killed. The Baker, Cinderella, Jack and Red Riding Hood all blame each other for their individual actions that led to the tragedy, ultimately blaming the Witch for growing the beans in the first place. She curses them all for their inability to accept any responsibility, as well as their refusal to do the "right thing" (handing Jack over). Casting all the remaining beans away, the Witch begs her mother to punish her again, and she abandons the group by melting into a large pit of boiling tar.

Review: Into the Woods is a quirky reimagining of several well loved fairy tales. It all starts with a baker and his wife who are desperate to have children; but have been cursed by a witch. The curse was placed on them for the misdeeds of the bakers father. So to ensure they can have a child they must enter the woods and retrieve a set of items the witch requires to cast a spell to restore her beauty and youth.

As they venture into the woods they are met and joined by a range of other fairy tail characters. Each of who is on their own journey. Such favourites as Little Red Riding Hood (whose real name is Blanchette), Jack with his loved yet old cow, Prince Charming (whose real name is the French Henri), The Big Bad Wolf (who is also known in secret circles as Zeke Midas Wolf), Cinderella (whose real name is Ella). There you now know not only the fun characters who play in the story; you also know their real names.

Some of the things we have taken for granted with the intertwined stories should be forgotten. As this retelling is all about being both new and familiar. Fun and chaotic as well as surprising. A great film to watch Saturday night with the whole family.

M J Flack