Disney’s “Into the Woods,” a movie adaptation of the stage production based on the book, is a film that intertwines three dark fairy tales along with an original storyline created by author James Lapine, with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim. The story follows the baker and his wife as they venture into the woods on a quest to collect five items for a witch in hopes of lifting a curse of infertility. During their journey, they encounter characters from the fairytales Jack and the Giant Beanstock, Little Red Riding-hood, Cinderella and Rapunzel.

Abby: “I love this. SO much.”

I had heard from my friends that “Into the Woods” was a musical that featured a few of my favorite fairy tale stories, but I had no knowledge of the plot or the darkness of the theme. While in the original fairy tales, the characters end their stories living “happily ever after,” this movie manages to twist and turn every original ending together into one, not necessarily happy, conclusion.

The movie features several of my favorite actors including Meryl Streep as the witch, Anna Kendrick as Cinderella and Johnny Depp as the wolf from “Little Red Riding Hood.” Each character contributes nicely to the array of songs performed throughout the movie, although one particular performance stuck out to me. In the beginning of the movie, Meryl Streep performs the “Witch’s Lament” to set up the plot of the musical. The song is somewhat of a rap about magic beans, which is hilarious when I thought of who was singing the song and the subject of the song.

Though the ending was not ideal, I loved the original storyline of the baker (James Corden) and how it worked to mix all the fairytales together. I have always been a fan of the ominous feel of the Grimm Brother’s tales, probably because I adore scary movies, so the creepiness of some of the stories was very interesting to me. However, if viewers are not a fan of those types of movies, it can be difficult to fully enjoy the movie.

Avery: “I regret taking my grandmother with me. She was horrified.”

“Into the Woods” is definitely … different. The actors did well, and the setting matched the dark mood of the musical turned movie. However, it did not set itself as a classic, or as a movie I would watch again for fun.

I fell asleep near the end of the movie, as it was a two-hour journey, and have little interest to complete the movie-musical. Although each fairytale has many similarities to their original dark tales, the storyline is not for the lovers of the unchanging traditional fairytales. The setting of the movie is realistic, along with a creative way to show Red Riding-hood being eaten by the wolf. “Agony,” sung by the Cinderella’s prince and Rapunzel’s prince, is one of the few musical pieces worth watching again. Otherwise, the movie was not worth taking the time to learn every word, and not grandmother or child-friendly.

 Kendall: “Wait, are they SUPPOSED to be singing?”

When I had made the decision to watch the movie “Into the Woods,” the last thing I expected was two hours of non-stop singing.

I didn’t necessarily dislike the movie; it gave a unique spin on all of the fairy tales that generations of children had grown up with, painting them in a new light and tying their storylines together in a distinctive way—it was just difficult to get past the initial shock of the musical aspect (which let’s be honest, could have been avoided if I had done a little research).

Having always been a fan of Anna Kendrick, I was definitely not disappointed in her portrayal of Cinderella. Her voice was clear and pleasing, and her acting abilities were charming and quirky, as always.  The portrayal of The Baker’s Wife by actress Emily Blunt surprised me. I knew she was a talented actress but was amused to discover she was a decent singer as well.

However, the movie was too busy. At times, too much was going on in the movie to really get engaged and focus on what was going on. Movies should provoke thought but not to the point of confusion.

Overall, the movie was above average. Although I would not purchase the movie in a DVD or digital format, it would definitely be among my top channel surfing picks.