In 1800s a young soprano opera singer is given a chance to perform in place of the lead soprano of Opéra Populaire. Surprising all her doubters, she gives a stunning performance. When questioned about her skills, she simply answers that she has had an excellent teacher. In reality this teacher is none other than the mysterious opera ghost, the phantom of the opera, played by Gerard Butler.
Christine Daaé's (Emmy Rossum) career was now on the rise, but things get complicated when her old childhood friend Raoul (Patrick Wilson), the Opéra's new patron, recognizes her and becomes infatuated, thus enraging the jealous ghost.
This adaptation of The Phantom of the Opera was directed by Joel Schumacher and that definitely shows, both in the film's strengths as well as its weaknesses. Meaning that the visuals are fantastic, but the story could have been better told.
The film looks stunning. The costumes are majestic, detailed and rich in textures. The sets, especially the opera itself, look amazing and Schumacher uses wonderful angles and shadows to evoke the feeling of fantasy, of dream. The music is based on the musical by Andrew Lloyd Webber, arguably the most successful musical of all time, so you know that aspect of the film will work. Whenever the main theme starts blasting, you cannot help but shiver.
Unfortunately, Schumacher has never been the strongest of storytellers. His films have a tendency of focusing on inconsequential moments and on evoking mood and looking as Gothic as possible. Likewise here. You get the basic story alright, but because so much time is spent on simply admiring the set pieces, you don't really get into the heads of the characters. Not helping the matter are the actors. Rossum is fantastic in her role, fully capturing the youth and innocence of the character, but both Butler and Wilson don't quite fit their roles. Wilson is too much of a storybook prince, a shining knight on a white horse - at one point literally - making it hard to take him seriously. And while Butler has some range as an actor, his singing voice isn't quite what it needs to be, though it's by no means awful. Notably he was the only one of the main actors not to have any previous singing experience.
In the end this makes this particular adaptation of the old classic tale something of a hit and miss. Those that can appreciate films simply because of their visual splendour can easily get lost into this film and get a lot out of it. But those requiring a good story will be left disappointed.
Christine Daaé's (Emmy Rossum) career was now on the rise, but things get complicated when her old childhood friend Raoul (Patrick Wilson), the Opéra's new patron, recognizes her and becomes infatuated, thus enraging the jealous ghost.
This adaptation of The Phantom of the Opera was directed by Joel Schumacher and that definitely shows, both in the film's strengths as well as its weaknesses. Meaning that the visuals are fantastic, but the story could have been better told.
The film looks stunning. The costumes are majestic, detailed and rich in textures. The sets, especially the opera itself, look amazing and Schumacher uses wonderful angles and shadows to evoke the feeling of fantasy, of dream. The music is based on the musical by Andrew Lloyd Webber, arguably the most successful musical of all time, so you know that aspect of the film will work. Whenever the main theme starts blasting, you cannot help but shiver.
Unfortunately, Schumacher has never been the strongest of storytellers. His films have a tendency of focusing on inconsequential moments and on evoking mood and looking as Gothic as possible. Likewise here. You get the basic story alright, but because so much time is spent on simply admiring the set pieces, you don't really get into the heads of the characters. Not helping the matter are the actors. Rossum is fantastic in her role, fully capturing the youth and innocence of the character, but both Butler and Wilson don't quite fit their roles. Wilson is too much of a storybook prince, a shining knight on a white horse - at one point literally - making it hard to take him seriously. And while Butler has some range as an actor, his singing voice isn't quite what it needs to be, though it's by no means awful. Notably he was the only one of the main actors not to have any previous singing experience.
In the end this makes this particular adaptation of the old classic tale something of a hit and miss. Those that can appreciate films simply because of their visual splendour can easily get lost into this film and get a lot out of it. But those requiring a good story will be left disappointed.