“Into the Woods” wants to be a fairy tale, a musical, and a morality play all at once. It succeeds at being a musical, mostly succeeds at being a fairy tale, and fails at being a morality play. That tension runs through the whole film, and it explains why this adaptation of Stephen Sondheim’s stage musical lands somewhere in the middle.
The story follows four young characters who want what they cannot have: Cinderella wants to go to the ball, Jack wants his cow back, Little Red Riding Hood wants to get her grandmother back, and the Baker and his wife want a child. They cross paths in a forest full of wolves, witches, and wishes gone wrong. The plot is simple, the songs are strong, and the message is blunt. What you get is a movie that knows exactly what it is doing, and a movie that is not entirely sure what it means.
Trailer, via Walt Disney Studios Philippines.
Opening the Forest
The film opens with a baker and his wife, played by James Corden and Emily Blunt, whose lives are cursed by a witch after the baker’s father stole beans from her garden. The curse is lifted only if the couple can gather a cow, a cape, a slipper, and a bean. The quest takes them into the woods, where they meet Cinderella, played by Anna Kendrick, who has her own wish to marry a prince. The story moves fast, introducing three separate fairy-tale arcs within the first half-hour.
The music carries the film in its early stretches. Sondheim’s songs are complex, witty, and often dark, and they translate well to the screen. Kendrick sings “On the Steps of the Palace” with a lightness that fits her character, while Blunt’s “Last Midnight” is a tour de force of vocal range. The songs are the reason to watch, even when the plot drags.
The opening scenes establish the rules of the world quickly. The baker and his wife are ordinary people living under a curse; Cinderella is a princess’s daughter who wants to escape her stepmother’s cruelty. The forest is not just scenery — it is a place where the rules of fairy tales bend and break.
The Second Act Turn
The second act is where “Into the Woods” starts to strain. After the ball ends and the prince marries Cinderella, the story shifts to a darker mode. Characters die, wishes come true, and the consequences pile up. The film leans into the tragedy of Sondheim’s original, but it does not fully commit to the bleakness. The ending is abrupt, and it leaves the audience wanting more closure than the story offers.
Corden’s performance anchors the later scenes. He plays the baker with a quiet desperation that grounds the fantasy in something real. Blunt matches him scene for scene, delivering the final song with a weariness that feels earned. The chemistry between the two leads is the best reason to watch the film through to the end.
The second act also introduces the prince’s father, a character who adds weight to the story’s themes of family and responsibility. His death late in the film is one of the most affecting moments in the movie.
The Supporting Cast
The supporting cast is a mixed bag. Lilla Crawford plays Little Red Riding Hood, and her rendition of “Hey There” is charming. Johnny Depp plays the Big Bad Wolf, and his performance is theatrical to the point of camp. Meryl Streep plays the Witch, and she brings a commanding presence to the role. Her “Stay With Me” is a highlight, though the character’s arc is underwritten.
The ensemble is large, and some actors feel like they are reading lines rather than performing. The pacing suffers in the middle, where a series of flashbacks and recaps slow the momentum built in the first hour. The film is nearly two and a half hours long, and the runtime shows.
The flashbacks are meant to fill in backstory, but they often repeat information already established in the first hour. The film would be tighter if it trusted the audience to remember what happened earlier.
The Moral Problem
Sondheim’s original musical is known for its moral ambiguity. The characters get what they want, but the price is high. “Into the Woods” tries to make that ambiguity explicit, but the film’s tone is inconsistent. The jokes land, the horror does not. The film wants to scare you and make you laugh in the same scene, and it rarely manages both.
“We must make a plan, a plan to win.”
That line, spoken by the Witch, captures the film’s central problem. The plan exists, but the execution is uneven. The film is at its best when it trusts the material and worst when it tries to explain it.
The film’s failure to commit to its own moral universe is the source of its weakest moments. When the story stays close to the songs and the characters, it works. When it reaches for a lesson, it loses focus.
The Final Score
“Into the Woods” is a competent musical with a great score, a talented cast, and a confused sense of purpose. The songs are the reason to see it, and the performances are the reason to stay. The story is weaker than the songs, and the ending is a letdown. It is not a failure, but it is not a triumph either.
The film earns a 6.9 out of 10.
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