I remember when The Phantom Of The Opera the musical was in Singapore (years ago?), I was in secondary school and had actually booked a ticket to watch the show, which was playing at Kallang Theatre. Unfortunately, a week before its run started, I was struck with chicken pox and thus, had to give it a miss. Eversince then, I've always had the impression that I had missed something really spectacular...
For those not in the know, Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber is a renowned musical composer whose commercial successes are legendary in the theatre business. More often than not, his shows are a winning combination of catchy songs and mesmerising visuals in the form of elaborate sets and costumes, and some very stunning choreography and stage-effects. Translating a musical of Phantom's standard to the silver screen would certainly be an arduous task; how do you re-create something so well-loved by theatre audiences and spin it into something credible enough for cinema? Director Joel Schumacher might have had some blockbusters on his resume [ The Lost Boys(1987), A Time To Kill(1996), Phone Booth(2003), etc], but he did have a couple of unforgivable duds, namely Batman Forever and Batman & Robin; hence I watched his latest movie with a little apprehension...
The Phantom musical was a serious piece of theatrical work; it had a lush, sweeping score, dramatic songs, impressive costumes and a serious romantic-horror storyline. All these have been maintained in the movie version but therein, perhaps, lies the problem. At times, ALW's The Phantom... takes itself much too seriously to be truly engaging and Schumacher's direction lacks inspiration. One major gripe I had with the cast was with their inconsistent accents. Other than that, I thought the acting was adequate at best, though very much contrived in some scenes. Gerard Butler (Phantom), Emmy Rossum (Christine) and Patrick Wilson (Raoul) thankfully did their own singing but those who own the original cast recording be warned; Sarah Brightman & Michael Crawford, as Christine & the Phantom respectively, had wayyyy better vocals. In my honest opinion, Minnie Driver (coincidentally the only "Hollywood" name in the cast) as the primadonna, Carlotta, was dreadfully campy but she was the most enjoyable to watch. Her scenes add a certain zest to an otherwise melancholic show.
Those expecting something along the lines of Chicago or Moulin Rouge would be greatly disappointed. For one thing, ALW's The Phantom... is a sung-thru musical and thus, you must patiently decipher the plot from the almost unintelligible libretto; the show works better if you already have some idea what's it all about. Secondly, it is neither overtly campy (like Moulin Rouge) nor hilariously satirical (like Chicago), so there's very little to laugh at in the film. Overall, I felt ALW's The Phantom... did not live up to the grandeur of the original stage musical but it is sufficiently entertaining, especially you have a penchant for movie musicals.
my ratings ---- 3.5/5 stars!!!
[For a true depiction of how an Andrew Lloyd Webber production should look like onscreen, I highly recommend Evita(1997), starring a Golden Globe-winning Madonna.]
[Trivia - ALW The Phantom... already has 3 Golden Globe nominations to its credit:
1. Best Original Song ("Learn To Be Lonely" sung by Minnie Driver)
2. Best Performance by an Actress - Musical or Comedy (Emmy Rossum)
3. Best Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy ]
