Well, at least it got an applause towards the end, so, I can at least say that people actually enjoyed this movie. But, even from where I stand, the movie is never really boring. Yeah, I could feel it's length after a while, but it kept my attention all the way through.
Yeah...that's about as much as I can say about this movie as a review...
So, let's talk about the musical side of this movie.
The movie plays out as an opera where almost everything that is said is sung. They converse through sing, they think through singing, they have action scenes....by singing....sort of, basically, everything is about singing.
The thing is, I kind of have an inherent problem where a story is told when it's nothing but singing. Not that it can't be done, but, pretty much all of the times where a story was being told through music, the music sounds kind of forced in order to get something that's coherent to be said. In other words, a lot of the dialogue sounds like "Hey! Look at me I'm talking, but I'm not sure what melody I'm singing, but I'm still singing...sort of..."
I actually have this problem with the few rock opera albums that I've listened to all the way through. The story needs to be told coherently, so, the music kind of takes a hit because of this. I'm probably the only person who was bothered by this, not because I actually know a thing or two about music(I mean, I kind of do, but it has nothing to do with my taste on music), it's just my brain gets frustrated when it's listening to a song and it has nothing to latch on to. Well, it was focusing on how forced the music sounded. This only really happens when people are talking to each other. When people are singing by themselves, it actually does have a flow.
Also, the reason why I could feel like the movie was dragging was because the music kind of gave the movie an excuse to drag out every scene to make sure that we "get" what's going on and what the character's are feeling at the moment. "Holy crap! I just briefly got a glance of someone I think I'm attracted to? Let's sing about it for more than five minutes" or "I'm really sad, let me dwell on this for a really long time in this sad and somber song."
Also, this is just me, but I have a REALLY hard time listening to lyrics when it comes to songs. Most of the time, it's because I can hardly understand what the people are even saying. Here, it was mostly okay, though, there were a lot of times where I was kind of taking a (surprisingly accurate) jab at what was going on based on the context of the singing rather than the actual lyrics. That's just me though, it seems like other people have no problem with this.
If one thing though, it does a pretty good job with big elaborate, musical sequences. In fact, it's pretty fantastic in this regard. My favorite scene was the very beginning where it had big epic music with people tugging on a boat in a very elaborate manner that fit with the music.
Since this is the movie after the French Revolution and the fall of Napoleon, it means there are fun and happy times where Anne Hathaway has to sell her body in order to help take care of her child and Hugh Jackman gets chased down by Russel Crowe, playing Captain Crunch in this movie who is chasing Hugh Jackman because he escaped parole, while also taking care of Anne Hathaway's daughter....because she's dead now.
Like I said, it's a pretty fun and light hearted movie, and will be sure to put a smile on your face for the first 20 minutes of this movie!
All joking aside, the movie did keep me involved and the adults in this movie were incredibly sympathetic. Then again, everybody in this movie is a pretty tragic mess.
I didn't care too much for the love story of Amanda Seyfried and some other bloke who was....just some guy. I mean, some people might get into the whole "Love at first sight" thing, but, all it really was to me was just two fairly attractive people who fancy each other.
Feel free to call me soulless in the comment section now.
Wow....I actually had a lot more to say about this movie than I thought I would.
All in all, it's a pretty emotional journey that will take you through the harshness and cruelty of life with its misery, pain, death, and suffering.
Oh yeah, and Happy New Year!
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