Andrew Lloyd Webber's Phantom of the Opera Movie Review: By Paul Heath

So, the musical version of Andrew Lloyd Webber's Phantom of the Opera finally makes it to the big-screen in glitzy Joel Schumacher style. The fan base is already there, with over £2 billion worth of box-office receipts. But is it any good?

A mysterious 'Phantom' haunts an opera house in 19th century Paris whilst tutoring a chorus girl named Christine (Emmy Rossum). When the lead soprano storms out of a production, Christine is given the lead role in a production one evening, she shines, so naturally, the original soprano played by Minnie Driver wants her part back, much to the dismay of the Phantom who demands that his student gets the part back. While all this is going on, young Christine falls for the theaters patron, the Vicomte de Chagny. Obviously the Phantom doesn't like this as he to loves the young lady that he has taught to sing for many years, so he kidnaps her with the intent on marrying her for ever more.

'Phantom' has to be one of the only musicals that I haven't seen on stage, so I'm a little unfamiliar with the source material (again), so I went in with fresh eyes, so I was able to judge the film for its cinematic quality, rather than from an adaptive point of view. In the same screening of the film as myself was my sister and her husband (who for some unexplained reason has been to see the stage musical four times), said that the plot and storyline is identical to the source material. It's noted that Lloyd Webber and Schumacher penned the screenplay together. Almost every scene in the film appears in the musical, so fans should be content with the job the duo have done with the screenplay.

Schumacher's direction is glossy, dynamic and engrossing and not too over the top to take away from the performances on screen, something which I think Baz Luhrmann's Moulin Rouge suffered from. With a musical production, your eyes can be looking at anything on the stage before you, but with a cinematic effort like this, you're taken where the director wants you to go, and I think Mr. Schumacher succeeded in keeping this both authentic and different enough to make it a worthy film outing.

Out of all the filmmakers working in Hollywood today, Schumacher has to be one that I admire the most. Over the years he has proved that he can apply himself to all genres and styles, afterall, this is the director that has brought films like The Lost Boys, St. Elmos Fire, Tigerland, Phone Booth, Flawless, Veronica Guerin and even Batman and Robin to the big-screen. How varied a portfolio is that?

It goes without saying, the music in the film is simply awesome, right from the opening booming introduction to the exciting and truly emotional climax. I was surprised at how many songs I actually knew, like Masquerade, Music of the Night and the title song Phantom of the Opera. Lloyd Webber's music has made an excellent transition to the screen and the performances of the actors are spot-on. As it should, seeing at he supervised and conducted proceedings.

If there was anything negative in there, then it would have to be the rather overlong running time, where they tried to cram in so much into a little over two and a half hours. Like the musical, perhaps an interval was needed and your bum is guaranteed to be numb by the end.

The Phantom of the Opera will definitely appeal to the die-hard fans out there, of which there are many, as I've found over the past few weeks researching the film for the site, but there is something there for the rest of us too. As a non-Phantom devotee, I enjoyed it. It's not the best film of the year, but it's certainly far from being the worst. A good adaptation of a legendary musical. Worth a watch.

Grade: B

Paul Heath