Phantom!

We went to see the new Phantom of the Opera movie, which is a film adaptation of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Broadway show.

It’s really quite wonderful. That was the third time I’ve seen ALW’s Phantom (once on West End, once a travelling show, and this one), and while vocally Gerard Butler (the Phantom) has nothing on Michael Crawford, he was very good in his own right, and I thought Emmy Rossum was the best Christine, both vocally and, er, actorly, that I’ve seen. Patrick Wilson as Raoul was vocally so-so, but it’s the first time I’ve ever had any sympathy for the character at all. He wasn’t a putz at all, and Raoul’s defining characteristic has always been his putziness, just as Christine’s has been her whineyness. Rossum’s Christine wasn’t in the least bit whiney.

More comments behind the cut tag, because I’m going to talk about things I’d have done differently and things that I specifically thought were very, *very* good, and perhaps people who haven’t seen it won’t want to be prejudiced by my (entirely correct and savvy) opinion. :) So bearing in mind that I love the stage show and that on the one hand I’m delighted they were so very true to it…the major changes I’d have made:

I’d have cut “Prima Donna” entirely. It’s a funny song, but you could cut it or reduce it to one stanza and still get the point across without slowing the film down as much as it did. It’s a fine piece for a two and a half hour stage play with an intermission, but it didn’t do anything to further the plot of a two and a half hour, non-intermissiony film.

They did a completely magnificent extended (extended? it certainly struck me as extended; can anybody verify that?) “Masquerade” that was visually stunning and much too long. My recollection of the stage play is that the Masquerade is essentially long enough for everybody to get on stage and be admired and for Christine and Raoul to sing their few lines and then for the Phantom to arrive. This was much longer than that, and while it really was gorgeous and I’d love to see an uncut version on the DVD so I can watch it all in one take, they could’ve reduced it by literally minutes, to the benefit of the film.

The graveyard scene. Uh. Crap. *goes to look up the song* Ah, yeah. “Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again”. Beautiful, beautiful scenery, but the scene is WAY TOO FREAKING LONG. They should’ve cut it down to one verse. In fact, when I realized they were going to have her wandering through the graveyard, I honestly thought, “Oh, well, they’ll cut it,” and then was appalled when they didn’t. Just *much* too long. Gah.

And the flip side: things that were really, REALLY good:

“Point of No Return”, from Don Juan, was *amazing*. Christine’s role in that scene is to trick the Phantom into believing that she really will go with him, that she’s choosing him over Raoul, and I have never seen it so well done. It was a *magnificent* seduction, and I *completely* believed that she’d chosen him. It was sensual, erotic, passionate, absolutely and wholly believable, and I *totally* believed Raoul had lost. And so did Raoul, who they cut to a few times, and wow. Wow, it was just fantastic.

“Angel of Music/Phantom of the Opera”, the descent into the labyrinth, were just unbelievably beautiful. Tremendously surreal, absolutely gorgeous, and followed up by a scene that really allowed you to question whether what we were seeing was all in Christine’s mind. Really nicely done.

Like I said, the scenery for “Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again” was wonderful. They added a swordfight between Raoul and the Phantom to that scene, and I liked it a lot (although I was hoping Raoul would sustain an injury that would clarify something in the black and white scenes they bookended the movie with). It made Raoul seem more passionate, forced Christine to make a choice, and perhaps should have affected the Phantom differently than it did, but was still a nice addition.

And speaking of the black and white bookends, *wow* the opening scene–the auction and raising of the chandelier–was *beautiful*. Goosebump raising, just incredibly, incredibly well done. Worth the price of admission.

And the last scene between Christine and the Phantom was pretty much heartbreaking. I’ve never seen a “Phantom” where I really believed Christine was desperately torn between these two men, and I’ve never before seen it where there seemed to be any actual reason for her to go with Raoul other than That’s How The Story Goes. (Nevermind that the Phantom is a murdering psychotic.) This was the first time I believed that Raoul was actually worthy of loving, and that Christine’s choice to go with him was a difficult one, because of the passion she shared with the Phantom.

Yeah. It was *good*. I really liked it. *beam*