The Phantom of the Opera (2004)

Day 296 - 10/23/09 - Movie #296

BEFORE: Sticking with the theme of masked villains, and masquerade balls, this is the filmed version of the stage musical, which is Andrew Lloyd Webber's update of the old silent film from the 1920's, which was based on a short story by Gaston Leroux. We went to see this on Broadway a few years ago, so I'm somewhat familiar with it, but I just hadn't gotten around to seeing the movie.

THE PLOT: A disfigured musical genius, hidden away in the Paris Opera House, terrorizes the opera company for the unwitting benefit of a young protégée whom he trains and loves.

AFTER: Since I've seen this on Broadway (who hasn't?) it's tough for me to judge the movie adaptation - the story has been workshopped and refined over the decades, until it's darn near perfect. So, the question is - was it worth turning it into a movie? I'd say yes, because this retains all of the spectacle of the stage show, but it's like I had really great seats - like, up on the stage itself! And obviously they can achieve better visuals with editing, movie effects, and a budget greater than the GDP of most countries...

My complaint is about some of the singing - some opera and theatre actors have an affected way of singing that might work better on stage, but makes their words hard to understand, and that was the case in a few songs here. The vocals were so shrill on "Masquerade" that I couldn't pick up any lyrics, it just sounded like: "Masquerade! Something-something parade!"

Emmy Rossum was a good choice to play Christine Daae (how the heck do you pronounce that - Day-ee? Dah-ee? Digh?) as she sang quite clearly. Gerard Butler played the Phantom - he's a huge star now after being in films like "300" - and I wonder if he did his own vocals, or if they were dubbed in. Completing the love triangle was Raul, played by Patrick Wilson, who did such a great job as Nite Owl in "Watchmen" (he was nominated in 2002 for a Tony for Oklahoma, so I'm giving him the benefit of the doubt), and Minnie Driver played Carlotta, the upstaged diva, and she managed to both sing AND speak incoherently in a weird Spanish (I guess...) accent.

But on the whole this was quite watchable (though long, took me two night sessions), like "Amadeus" mixed with an action film.

RATING: 7 out of 10 (maybe even an 8, but minus 1 for not bringing anything new to the table, except moving the chandelier scene to the end of the film)

SPOOK-O-METER: 3 out of 10 (a couple backstage deaths, then some creepiness once the Phantom loses his mask)