This movie was a complete musical (something I neglected to tell my boyfriend before it began... Hehe) and I have to say it really takes still and keen directing to have almost 2 hours of pure singing! However sometimes it did feel like it was a bit forced, I mean c'mon you don't have to sing eeeverryything.
The story begins with the anticipation of the Prince's grand ball which is a 3 night event in which everyone in the village dreams of attending. Here us where the beloved Prince Charming will be looking for his bride (In true Cinderella form of course). The first night we get acquainted with a local baker and his wife (they don't have names... I even researched it after to see if I missed their names but even on IMDb the cast list just says "Baker" and "Baker's Wife"
The first night of celebration we find out that the baker and his wife are baron due to a family curse... Thanks to an evil witch that lives next door. The witch pays them a visit this night to inform them of all this and what they have to do to undo the curse so they can finally start their family.
The ingredients to reverse the curse are...
1) A cow as white as milk
2) A cape as red as blood
3) A lock of hair that is yellow as corn
4) A shoe like gold
This is how every story can connect to each other without too much force in the movie so you see all of our characters head into the woods on their separate adventures and to eventually cross paths in some way. There are a lot of twists in this movie, and even when you think things are winding down something terrible and twisted happens!
Here's a bit of a spoiler for the story...
I am personally a big fan of "feel good" movies. I like it when everyone lives happily every after (sorry just a bit of a sap!) and this movie didn't exactly do that for me... I found it very morbid at twisted at times in ways I'm not used to Disney movies being... I guess this is what happens when Brothers Grimm and Disney collides...
Little red riding hood was the story line that definitely kept closest to it's original tale. Little girl skips into the woods with a basket of goodies for Grandma... Meets a devilish wolf along the way (Johnny Depp) who manages to veer little red off her path and gobbles up both grandma and red. Thankfully they are rescued by... The baker which is a nice change of pace I guess.
Rapunzel's tale I found short and sweet- they really didn't take too much time on this one. Girl is locked in tower by evil witch (same one that lives next to the baker and his wife) - prince rescues her- witch tried to stop them but love prevails in the end and they live happily ever after! <3 (My kind of ending)
Jack and his magic beans really brought the suspense to the story. Just when you thought you'd seen the worse, another giant would show up! The classic tale of a boy selling his cow for magic beans that sprout to the heavens. He manages to steal money, a golden egg and the infamous self playing harp in which a giant dies trying to get it back. The giant's wife ends up coming after them shortly after for revenge... Nasty nasty results from this let me tell you...
And last but not least Cinderella... This story very much changed from the original one we know and love, a little brunette Cinderella gets the chance to go to the ball to meet the prince only to get nasty social anxiety and run off! (all.. 3.. nights) her outfit is laced in gold and she's very stunning but very very different from the classic. The prince searching for his bride was a very morbid part of the movie as characters were cutting pieces of their feet off ... To try to fit in the golden shoe... Gaaah I still get shivers thinking about it!!!
All in all this story was very well done, it all blended together quite well- nothing was overly forced or randomly placed so I will give credit where credit is due.. However I did not enjoy this movie.. To much sorrow for me.. Too much Grimm... Too much adultery at one point geesh...
