I saw it today, and personally, I don't understand the general bad-will against it among the critics. I'm sure it has a lot to do with the director's lackluster reputation and Webber's past of poor critical reception, but the movie is actually quite well done. Emmy Rossum and Gerard Butler did excellent jobs - call it blasphemy, but I prefer both their voices in these roles over Brightman & Crawford (I like their performances too, though).
Really, I think one's reaction will depend on their perception and point-of-view when going into it. Essentially, its a slightly more cinematic version of a broadway show. The nature of the sets and cinematography feels very much like a stage, and the audience is viewing it all as they would the original show. Since this is obviously what the filmmakers intended for, I think its great for what its supposed to be.
However, in my opinion, I wouldn't have taken that approach to the material (although I'm sure with Webber producing, he wouldn't have had it any other way). I wouldn't have adhered so closely to the play, and I would've opened it up more in general for movie cinematic possibilities. For example - "Music of the Night" plays out exactly as it would in the theater, with the Phantom and Christine in the Phantom's staged lair. If it were me, I would've done something bigger with it. After all, it is the movies, and people are going to a movie theater to see a movie, not a play. That's just one example - I would've prefered them taking that approach to the whole thing. It feels somewhat constrained by the play.
Its tough to judge a movie like this, because you're not really judging the movie itself - you're judging the way the material was brought to a different format. In the end though, I had a very enjoyable time.
It was fitting that I went to it with my sister, since back in the mid-90s, after seeing the show, she got me into the music. I remember she was just so in love with it - she would always play the songs on her keyboard for hours, and I'd just sit and listen. I never did see the show, but I developed a love for the music thanks to her. However, she's changed over the years, and she fell out of interest of so much she used to be interested in, including music and such (don't ask me why - she's hardened up somewhat for hu noz why, I guess she just "grew up"). But once the movie started, she was almost as exactly as I remembered her being before - she immediately got back into the music, started tapping her feet, moving her hands like she was playing piano keys. When we came out of the movie, she was actually misty. She was humming the songs all the way home, and said she was going to go get the CD, and that she would try to start playing the songs on keyboard again. It was amazing. (Women are so emotional, aren't they?
)Anyway, perhaps that incident made my reaction to the movie more positive than it would have been if she wasn't there. Either way, I greatly enjoyed the entire thing. I hope nobody here is effected by the lackluster buzz, because it really doesn't deserve it. Go see it, have a good time!
I forgot about that. That was funny.