Into the Woods (2014)

Into the Woods is a fantasy musical, Inspired by the Grimm Brothers' fairy tales of "Little Red Riding Hood", "Cinderella", "Jack and the Beanstalk", and "Rapunzel."

There is fun to be had in watching these familiar (fairy tale) characters interact and the cast give it their all. For example: Meryl Streep's Witch is the one who has trapped Rapunzel inside the castle. Johnny Depp is the big, bad wolf, who sings a creepy song about little girls (with no lumps, yikes), while Jack is of course tricked into giving up his 'Milky White,' cow in exchange for The Baker's magical beans. 

The Baker (James Corden) and his wife (Emily Blunt) are tasked with collecting various items (including the cow), inside the woods, so that the witch can perform a spell to reclaim her lost youth. The characters must come together in order to vanquish a bigger threat. It's clever stuff.

The movie has stop and start – extremely theatrical – musical numbers, that may prove annoying if you're not fully on board. [If that's the case, you may find the 124 minute running time feels like an eternity.] However, if you love darker fairy tales and you're a fan of musicals, then this will be your idea of movie heaven.

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CAST: Chris Pine, Tracey Ullman, Christine Baranski, Lilla Crawford, Daniel Huttlestone, MacKenzie Mauzy, Billy Magnussen. DIRECTED BY: Rob Marshall. SCREENPLAY BY: James Lapine. BASED ON: Into the Woods by Stephen Sondheim, James Lapine. RUNNING TIME: 124 minutes. CERTIFICATE: PG. USA.