Into The Woods…more than a Fairy Tale (in a bad way)

***Spoiler Alert****
If you don’t want to know about this movie before you see it, then stop reading.

“And they lived happily ever after”…oh wait they don’t.
That’s right, Jack (the bean stalk Jack) is orphaned.
Little Red Riding hood is too.
The Baker is a widower.
The Baker’s wife cheats on her husband then dies.
Have I forgotten anything else?  Oh, yeah the witch commits suicide.
And fairy tale endings now suck.

This is my impression of the recent Disney release of musical made for movie film – “Into the Woods”.
I didn’t watch any stage productions of this before watching the film…maybe I should have.
I can’t but help feel jipped somehow.  I feel like this movie was portrayed to be some sort of Kids movie in the advertising only to find out that it wasn’t…it really wasn’t.  In a way I feel like I’ve been taken by a snake-oil salesman.
Sure, there were some funny moments in the film.
There were some intriguing scenes.

Here come the “Buts”…
But perhaps the writer(s) real life experiences spilled over into this script…
but the plot was thin.
but the actors were a little stiff.
but the message was cynical at best and dark at worst.

I feel like I just watched the movie “Hugo” all over again.
Do you remember that film?  It was also portrayed to be some sort of kids movie with mystery and awe…but it just turned out to be an adult homage to a long retired film maker.

Perhaps you’ll disagree with me…that’s fine.
We all have our opinions and this is just mine.
Perhaps you have more sense of this movie than I do, and you actually saw the musical on stage.
I didn’t like it.
I felt cheated out of two hours of my life.
I went to the movies expecting this to be a funny Shrek-like film when what we got was a Fable-turned Shakespearean tragedy full of “life sucks” themes.
My kids were unimpressed.
I just can’t buy into this philosophy.
Who knows…maybe this film just wasn’t for me…but advertisers: could you have just been honest with us?