• 4Nov 09

  Movie Review: The Phantom of the Opera

  Well, here comes a movie review. I was thinking about doing something that most people would know about. But for quite a while now, I have been holding in a rant that I have wanted to go on about this film... The Phantom of the Opera (2004).

  First I'd like to say a few things. This film is based on the musical, first brought to the stage in 1986. The musical, created by Andrew Lloyd Webber, was a master piece. Not only is it the longest running and most popular musical, it's also considered to be the most successful entertainment project in history. I love it. It's my favorite musical of all time.

  For those who don't know, it tells the story of the deformed Phantom of the Opera, who lives under an opera theater. He hears the voice of young Christine Daae and falls in love with her voice. He wishes to train her as a singer. His love for her leads to kidnapping and other problems, involving her fiance Raoul.

  The parts of the Phantom and Christine were originally played [on Broadway] by Michael Crawford and Sarah Brightman (Sarah Brightman was actually Webber's wife, and the singing role was created for her). While the musical enjoyed success on the stage, Webber intended of having a musical film based on the play, led by Michael Crawford and Sarah Brightman... But eventually, Webber and Sarah Brightman divorced, and things became a little awkward between them. So plans for the film were put on hold for over a decade... Finally, in 2004, we got this.

  

  Alright, well I'm VERY critical of this film. So I might have a lot to say (though I doubt many will read this review , I'm mostly doing this because I gotta). First of all, I'd like to talk about the casting of the characters.

  There's Emmy Rossum, who plays the lead female Christine. I really like her as Christine. She was a great pick. Maybe her acting wasn't top notch, and Sarah Brightman was definitely a better singer. But Emmy Rossum is just all around great. I also love the passion in her voice, especially in her solo during the second act. Another thing, while not quite as important, is that she really looks the part. When I watch her in this role, I forget that she was seventeen at the time. Yep, she was given the impossible task of playing one of the hardest female roles in musical history, at the age of seventeen. In fact, she was actually sixteen when she was first casted! But I have to say, this isn't her best role. I've seen most of her films and heard her songs, and she's done better. She has more of a pop voice (also, I'd like to note that, sometime after playing this role, she "left the c|assical world" and began doing pop music). She also, overall, isn't as good as Sarah Brightman (at her peak, I'd like to add; Sarah Brightman's voice really went downhill over the years). But still, Emmy was very good, and we can't forget her age. So I give a lot of credit to this girl.

  Her fiance, Raoul, is played by Patrick Wilson. I've always liked him in this role. Like Emmy, he's not as good as the original person who played the role, but he's very good. He has that "pretty boy" look that Raoul seems to have, and has a great voice (although, this isn't his best). All the other roles are also fine. Carlotta, the previous diva before Christine became a star, acted the part well. Sure, it isn't exactly her singing, as her singing was dubbed over by another singer (even though the actress, Minnie Driver, is a good singer, this singing role is way too hard), but she acted the part so well, so I like her. Most of the other roles are also good.

  Now... what is my problem with the casting? Well, it has to do with the main lead himself... the Phantom, played by Gerard Butler. Seriously, what was Webber thinking in casting this guy? Well he claims that he wanted a more rock quality in the Phantom's voice. First of all, that's stupid for a role like this. Second, Gerard Butler isn't even a singer; he had to learn totally from scratch. So... how do you cast a non-singer as the biggest singing role in musical theater? It doesn't seem like a very logical decision to me.

  Also, the Phantom is described as the perfect tenor (a tenor is basically a male who can sing higher notes)... Then why does Gerard Butler sing a load of things down the octave? Also, his mediocre voice is very inconsistent. Sometimes, while he's singing, his voice will just suddenly sound really different. Not to mention, there's one scene where he sings with a thick Scottish accent (which practically comes out of no where). I mean, isn't the Phantom supposed to be Christine's teacher? Why is she 5x's better?

  Honestly, Gerard Butler's performance are bad to the point where they are so entertaining, simply because he's so bad. I get a kick out of watching this guy act and sing. And it's a shame, because I have trouble watching this film to appreciate Emmy and Patrick Wilson and the others. Gerard Butler is so hilarious it's distracting.

  And you know what? So many people like him as the Phantom. I have no problem with people having their own opinions, but many of them are just fangirls who are in love with Gerard Butler. I'm sure he's a good actor in other films, but come on, let's be serious.

  As for the rest of the film, honestly, I can go into detail on every song in the show, but I won't. Maybe I will add that later, but for now, I'll talk about a few other things. First of all, the set is amazing. I can't imagine how much money it costed. They built the magnificent theater in this film from the ground up. The orchestration is also lovely, and is much bigger than in the musical.

  But now onto my second problem with this movie. Some directions and decisions that are taken are horrible. A famous chandelier scene, where it falls at the end of the first act, was changed. First of all, this is a scene that shouldn't have been changed. But if they want to try something different, then fine, but the point where they had the chandelier fall is bad. The scene itself is fine, in fact it's exciting. But that's the problem. In all the excitement, the chandelier is pretty much pushed aside, and is the last thing you are thinking about while watching the film.

  There are also other problems I have. There is a sword fight scene that is totally out of place, and I despise the unmasking scene at the end of the film. There are probably other things too. Basically, you can see that I am very critical of this film.

  So how about my final thoughts? Well, as much as I criticise it, I will say, I do like it. Sure, it's not great, and in no way does it do the musical any justice, but it's decent. Other than Gerard Butler, most of the people are good, and Emmy Rossum's "Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again" is one of my favorite performances of that film because of her wonderful singing, her passion, and the atmosphere. I just really have mixed feelings about the movie, but it's fine, and I will surely be watching it again.

  Well, I might be adding to this review in the future (because I feel like I'm missing a few things), and I might add my opinions about all the songs. But for now, I'll just give a grade to all them.

  Overture: 9/10
  Think of Me: 8/10 (Christine)
  Angel of Music: 7/10 (Christine and Meg)
  The Mirror: 4/10 (The Phantom and Christine)
  The Phantom of the Opera: 6/10 (The Phantom and Christine)
  The Music of the Night: 2/10 (The Phantom)
  Prima Donna: 7/10
  All I Ask of You: 8/10 (Christine and Raoul)
  All I Ask of You: 3/10 (The Phantom)
  Masquerade: 5/10
  Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again: 10/10 (Christine)
  The Point of No Return: 5/10 (The Phantom and Christine)
  The Final Lair: 6/10 (The Phantom, Christine, and Raoul)

  Final Grade: 6/10

  Alright, that's about it for now. Tune into my next review!

  • Posted Nov 4, 2009 5:29 pm PT
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• 31Oct 09

  Movie Reviews

  Well Halloween is officially over. I hope you all had fun!

  Anyway, as you surely remember, I did a sort of movie review for Jaws, my favorite horror film (if you don't remember, don't expect a recap; just go down one blog post... but then again, you're probably incapable of doing that, AfterImage34 ). Well, I guess you can think of this as sort of a spin-off to that horror movie review. From now on I am going to start picking out random movies and reviewing them.

  I kept my presence on this site alive for a while by comparing video games, but I pretty much reviewed the games that I wanted to, and don't feel like continuing that . And I'm not on the forums much either, excluding the occasional visit to the SpongeBob SquarePants forum. So I might as well keep my presence alive by doing something. And this is what I feel like doing at the moment. Maybe I will return to those game comparisons in the future, but for now, I am going to be reviewing movies .

  • Posted Oct 31, 2009 10:11 pm PT
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• 30Oct 09

  Happy Halloween!!!

  "This is Halloween! This is Halloween! Halloween! Halloween! Halloween! Halloween!"
  - The Nightmare Before Christmas

  It has struck 12:00 AM! Do you know what that means? It's that creepy time of the year again ! Halloween! A great and fun season that never grows old and doesn't hog up 1/4 of the whole year (*cough* Christmas* *cough* ). I am currently sitting at this computer with warm apple cidar, in the spirit of the season . Having grown out of trick-or-treating, these days, on Halloween night, I love to dress up in my grimm reaper cloak, sit on my porch, and simply stare at people when they walk in to get candy. I don't say anything, nor do I get up. I simply stare at them, and little kids get scared (and being that it's so dark outside, and my cloak is completely black, I cannot be seen at all; you can only see the cloak).

  LOL. Maybe it's still a little early, being that it's only a little past 12:00 AM . But this is just a fun time. Maybe, before I go to bed tonight, I will watch Scaredy Pants (the SpongeBob SquarePants Halloween episode). Something Halloween themed...

  Anyway, I figured that, since it's Halloween, I should do something. So I decided to talk about horror movies. I love them, although I'm easily not the biggest fan in my family. They are always great to watch throughout October. Movies like Nosferatu and The Wolfman are great old ones. I also love Friday the 13th and Halloween, (although sadly, they both had a list of horrible sequels), two slasher films that were partially inspired by Black Christmas, another horror film which I feel is superior to both of them. Then we also got other great films, such as the Evil Dead trilogy, A Nightmare on Elm Street (plus it's seventh sequel titled Wes Craven's New Nightmare, which was actually a very good sequel), An American Werewolf in London, Frankenstein, and more. I could go on.

  Now what about my favorite horror movie? Well, it's something you've surely heard of. It's not only my favorite horror movie, but it's possibly my favorite movie of all time... Jaws.

  

  I admit, it's not much of a Halloween movie . This is more of a "terrors of the deep" kind of movie that's better to be watched during the summer when you are down the shore, rather than during Halloween. However, it's a horror movie, so it counts . And I was also just in the mood to talk about it, so beware of spoilers below.

  First of all, this movie pretty much changed the way people looked at the ocean. I think it was made in 1975. After seeing it, people were terrified to go into the water from that point on ! Now THAT'S what I call "leaving an impresission"! The first half of the movie is great, and sets the stage for the second half, which is where it really picks up.

  The shark itself is great. It's a twenty footer-

  Quint: Twenty five.

  Right, thanks Quint . It's a twenty five footer. That's not a fish you want to get bit by . The shark itself never appears until the second half of the movie. Supposedly, the shark was originally going to appear earlier on, but they were having problems with it, and therefore couldn't use it until much later... Now, it's pretty much agreed that this was the best thing that could have happened to it. Having to wait until the second half of the movie, and them jumping when it makes its appearance is a great moment.

  Now how about those characters? Brody and Hooper are great, but I must say that Quint steals the show. His brilliant acting and list of memorable lines is what people really remember.

  The soundtrack is something great. The main theme is one that everyone, even people who haven't seen the movie, must surely know. The rest of the soundtrack is also really good and assists the mood of the scenes.

  This movie is just a masterpiece. It's not really scare, but it has plenty of those "jump out of your seat" moments, particularly that scene in the abandoned boat.

  Sadly, Jaws was another movie victim to horrendous sequels. Why does every good movie have to suffer this? Oh well, ignoring all the trash that followed it, this movie is perfect. I would give it a well deserved 10 out of 10!

  • Posted Oct 30, 2009 9:47 pm PT
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