Is this the best version of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musical that could have been brought to the screen? Pretty much. But I still cannot whole heartily recommend it, because the source material is weak. No matter how popular it is it’s still a one-note production.
The story is simple enough — The Phantom (Gerard Butler, DEAR FRANKIE) lurks in the opera house composing in seclusion. He becomes infatuated by the new young star Christine (Emmy Rossum, MYSTIC RIVER), who is in love with her childhood sweetheart Raoul (Patrick Wilson, ANGELS IN AMERICA).
First off Butler doesn’t really have the voice for the Phantom. He’s a great singer, but I think he needs extreme pipes to make the role work. Rossum is amazing and Wilson is good for what his role calls for. All their performances are good, but the material is still weak.
The lyrics for the most part stink. The music is the catchy variety, but that’s only so because it takes one good passage and repeats it to death. As for the sheer campiness of the entire story, it’s unavoidable. Butler might have actually improved his performance by going over-the-top with it. As is, the film creates little emotion for the characters and I never cared about them all that much.
However, the highlights of the film are its production and costume design, which is magnificent. No other film have I wanted more to just turn off the sound and look at the images. To think of it, the film might have even worked as a silent film.
Director Joel Schumacher even barrows touches from French classic BEAUTY AND THE BEAST. This is the most competent and skilled rendition of this musical that any fan could hope for. However, it still doesn’t make a great movie. I had the same reaction to CREEPSHOW. It was the best version of E.C. Comics that could probably be made, but are E.C. Comics good enough to be worthy of a film translation?
So I whole-heartily recommend this film to fans of the musical. If you have never seen the musical or do not like the musical, I cannot recommend this film to you. It’s a love it or hate it kind of venture. Just writing this review I have those darn horns in my head and I really don’t like it. But you could say that they did leave an impression nonetheless.
Rick DeMott
Animation World Network
Creator of Rick's Flicks Picks
