The Phantom of the Opera (2004)

Rating: 4.5/5

With stunning visuals and unique casting, the Phantom of the Opera is an impressive feat for musical films.

In the late 1800s, the Paris Opera house has just been put into the hands of two new managers. On the opening night of the managers' first show, disaster strikes when a stage prop falls from the ceiling and lands on the the lead soprano, Carlotta (Minnie Driver). Outraged by what appears to be another accident in a series of mishaps, Carlotta storms off the stage. The new managers are in a panic, thinking they'll have to cancel their show, but soon discover the impeccable vocal skill of a chorus girl named Christine Daae (Emmy Rossum).

After Christine's debut at the opera house, she reunites with her childhood friend Raoul (Patrick Wilson). Thinking that everything is falling into place, with both her career and love life seemingly on track to succeed, Christine mistakingly lets her guard down, allowing herself to fall prey to the mysterious virtuoso who calls himself the "Opera Ghost", but is known to the inhabitants of the theater as the Phantom of the Opera (Gerard Butler.) The Phantom will not allow for anyone to take the stage from Christine and will stop at nothing in order to ensure she belongs only to him.

The Phantom of the Opera has been a movie I have loved since its original release and since I first watched it, which is why it’s critics' reviews really baffled me when I recently took a look at them. Most of the reviews were highly negative, calling the movie slow paced and dull. It makes me wonder what movie they were watching, because it definitely couldn't have been the Phantom of the Opera I saw through my eyes. Yes, Phantom is a long film, but it’s an even longer musical on the stage, so the length didn’t have a negative impact on me whatsoever. Some may say this movie was garish or overdrawn, but classic opera can be incredibly extravagant and full of flourish, and given that Phantom is set in an opera house and centered around several shows performed by the characters, I find it not only fitting that the film matched the typical operatic feel, but in fact I would have been disappointed and slightly miffed if it hadn’t.

When adapting a musical to the screen, there are obviously elements to it that are going to have to change. For example, the voices being a big one. When you watch a live musical, you expect the big stage sound from the voices of the cast, but on film, that style of singing could appear overdone and just too much for the everyday movie goer. Phantom of the Opera is a little tricky in this sense, because many of the characters are supposed to have the cliche operatic sound to their voice, on Broadway, even the lead Christine has that vocal quality. However, by casting Emmy Rossum as Christine in this film, the filmmakers made a wonderful choice. Her voice is a soprano, but not an operatic soprano. The angelic quality to her singing can appeal to the masses, and won’t be nearly as likely to turn an audience away as the sometimes shrill operatic voice could have. As far as Gerard Butler's Phantom, there are times when I think it’s great, and others where I can take it or leave it. I’m not sure if he would have been my first choice for the iconic title role, but the more emotion he put into the song, the better his performance and voice was.

Even the critics who negatively reviewed Phantom of the Opera, still had positive comments towards the visual styling of the film. The color contrasts and sets of Phantom of the Opera ooze romance and history, and it effortlessly pulls the viewer into the dark fairytale of its world. It is clear that practical effects and staging were heavily in use throughout the film, and that was a brilliant choice on the part of the set designers. Phantom of the Opera may be one of the most famous musicals in history, so to completely pull the movie away from its roots would have been a huge mistake. Watching the movie gives one the sense of being able to get an idea of what the live production must be like to witness, and maybe instilled a budding love for the world of musical theater to an unsuspecting viewer.

There’s very little that I dislike about the Phantom of the Opera, and perhaps my love for musicals is clouding my judgment, but maybe that’s a good thing. Instead of watching this movie, looking for any problem I can nitpick, I would much rather spend my time getting enthralled in the music and the colors swirling around the screen. Maybe those who critique the on-screen musicals should let their judgmental guard down a bit, and just enjoy the show.