Musical fails transition to film

Much hype has been given to the recently released “Phantom of the Opera,” a movie version of the Broadway hit by Andrew Lloyd Webber. The film, directed by Joel Schumacher, doesn’t necessarily deserve the attention.

The celluloid version of “Phantom of the Opera” may have pleased some audiences, but for fans of the musical it falls well short of expectations.

While some of the liberties taken with the show, such as re-ordering some events and cutting songs to prevent drag are commendable in helping the musical adapt to the silver screen, several other changes are by far for the worse.

For instance, lyrics are taken out of songs and simply spoken in some deranged variation on a recitative, when, if they weren’t going to be sung, the lines should have been re-written as actual dialogue so that the characters aren’t ridiculously speaking in rhyme (and sometimes still in rhythm).

The character of Carlotta, while completely hilarious, is trivialized and taken from a character down to merely a caricature, stripped of depth and humanity.

The setting of the plot is moved from the historical Paris Opera House to a fictional “Opera Popular” so that the ending could be more easily spectacularized, but it is more of a detraction as it brings any confused person familiar with the piece out of the movie.

Also unfortunate in the film is the rampant use of computer animation. Everything from capes to flames to the “Opera Popular” itself is distractingly false.

Even some of the performances themselves fail to impress. Christine’s acting is bland and oftentimes bad (much like her voice). The Phantom, while an improvement over Michael Crawford, slides off notes too much. All-in-all there is too much pop in the vocals.

The big number “Masquerade” is greatly underdone, needing much more color and more sumptuous costumes. Instead this lavishness is injudiciously placed on numbers like “Prima Donna.”

Redeeming, though, are the voices of Raul and of Carlotta (sung by Margaret Preece), which are both wonderful and well suited to the respective roles.

Minnie Driver is a riot in the role of Carlotta, the Spanish prima donna of the Opera House. And while some choices are regrettable, the big moments of the show are punched remarkably well.

“Phantom of the Opera” opens nationwide on Jan. 21 and is worth seeing for those who like a dramatic love story set to operatic song. However, for anyone expecting something to the caliber of the stage production or who doesn’t realize how daytime dramas came to be called soap operas, a better movie can certainly be found.

Grade: C-