Ymbryne I was actually surprised by how well they wove together different fairy tales. It was very innovative (I have not seen the play, so this was new to me). All the performances were good - Emily Blunt, Anna Kendrick and the children were particularly impressive. James Corden who normally annoys the hell out of me on his talk show was actually fine here! His acting wasn't at all bad. His other role as the narrator was unnecessary, the story is not his point of view. On a side note, why is Disney picking people with annoying voices as narrators?? This film, then there was the Cinderella remake with dreadful narration by Helena Bonham carter...Back to this film, it was good in parts but not without major flaws. The dark parts were good but confusing on many occasions.-1. References to pedophilia: Children of today need to be warned about these things and in very clear terms. Just telling them about some big bad wolf is not going to cut it. That is why Johnny Depp's character comes across as a creepy man after the little girl and not an actual wolf. They did tone it down and just showed the wolf-man gobbling up the girl and her grandmother. Anyway, it was OK - they got across the message they intended to. But the really confusing bit was the little girl singing "excited but scared" or something similar when she is around the 'wolf'. I mean he did give off an incredibly creepy vibe and she very smartly senses it and is absolutely sure he is going to harm her and tries her best to be calm and get away before the situation escalates. So these lyrics made no sense to me.-2. Adultery: The baker's wife does mention some discontent with him much much before she kisses the prince. She is married to him for many years and it's been a bit of a rut BUT she JUST had a BABY that she has craved for so long! Maybe you can forgive her for a moment of lapse in judgement (considering the handsome, persuasive prince and all) BUT she carries on with it until he makes some excuse and leaves. After that, her singing about "AND" not "OR" if she can be "clever about it" was out of character. She certainly did not seem that stupid at the beginning of the film or the type to have affairs with married men while being married herself! Again, very confusing.-3. Abandonment: There are various tales of abandonment in this film, all well done. -4. No happily ever after: I particularly liked Cinderella's story in this film. She marries a prince but he is unfaithful! She is disappointed by his betrayal and selfishness but gathers the courage to leave him and asks him what he will do as a king if he is upto no good as a prince. The parts I found most unsatisfactory: 1. The whole story with the lady giant was very unconvincing and frankly, stupid. 2. Lyrics seemed forced on several occasions and confusing on others as I mentioned earlier.3. Why did the baker never try to meet his sister even though he knew that the witch had hidden her somewhere? Did they forget to tie that loose end? 4. The whole thing with Cinderella's step family was a little over the top, especially the birds picking those girls' eyes - was that necessary? 5. The ending was a total cop-out in an attempt to sort of tie everything up in a feel-good way.Overall, the film could have been better if a bit more attention was paid to the characters and their motivations.

BanditXander As a longtime fan of the original Broadway recording with Bernadette Peters, I was excited to see this as a large scale production. The sets are amazing and costuming is great and even the cast is well full of good talent. One of the things that makes a good musical great is all the work that goes into the harmonies and vocal work, especially in such a music heavy piece like this Sondheim creation. There is none of that here, voices are mostly electronically mixed and where there should be a swell of harmony, you find it seems 'lifeless' to put not to fine a point on it. The film is entertaining and fun even with the deviations to the original plot and themes, but lacks the emotional work and true emsemble work that really sets this particular musical experience apart from other stage and film pieces. See the original with Chip Zein, Bernadette, Joanna Gleeson etc. and then this version, and you may find yourself feeling the same way. Fun flick, better on stage with live talent.

mjr492 Me and my friend got dragged to see this movie. I thought it would be pretty good and there was nothing else playing I want to see, so sure. After it was over, I thought to myself, did a really waste two hours of my life watching this move and I'd also realize I would never get those two hours back. During the movie, I was hoping it would get to the ending to end. It was all bad; the story, the characters, and nothing like the fairly tales we know and none of them lived "happily ever after". The only good part of this movie was Johnny Depp's role as the Wolf and he was only around a short time too. Take me word on this and don't watch this movie!

Eka Herlyanti I didn't know how many times I've tried to watch this movie since I found out it was played on HBO. I fell asleep so many times and this could the sign of a kinda boring movie. I also just found out, when I finally finished the movie, that it was directed by Rob Marshall, the one whose some of his movies are on my favorite movies list: Memoirs of a Geisha and Chicago. The songs, although not quite entertaining as in Chicago, have beautiful lyrics. Sometimes I think they are out of tune? (Is that a correct term?) Since my listening in English is not so great, I found it a bit hard to follow. They sang too fast sometimes.Emily Blunt and Meryl Streep are my favorite casts here. They both funny, also the twins and the stepmother. I tried to like Anna Kendrick but I still couldn't find her attractive. The story itself is average.