Review – The Phantom of the Opera (2005)

At long last the ever-popular Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber musical version of the Gaston Leroux classic (discounting Webber’s decision to give himself credit for writing the story when the play first hit Broadway) makes it to the silver screen. The production design is close enough to Moulin Rouge that it should leave Baz Luhrman feeling flattered or ripped off or both. Beyond that, however, this is almost pure Webber ego. The plot retains a few fragments of the novel’s gothic charm, but it’s almost completely buried under a thick blanket of repetitive, go-nowhere musical numbers. The casting was odd, too. Minnie Driver does an entertaining job as Carlotta, and Miranda Richardson turns in a solid, quiet performance as the Phantom’s semi-sidekick. But beyond that most of the players are quasi-knowns and new faces, disappointing in roles where a little star power would have been a real plus. My biggest gripe, however, is that every time the movie appears to be in danger of becoming interesting it immediately dives back into an extended yodeling session about love or darkness or music or love of dark music. Honestly, big chunks of this thing were as boring as real opera. Mildly amusing