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The music of the night has hit something of a sour note: Critics are calling the screen adaptation of Andrew Lloyd Webber's popular musical histrionic, boring, and lacking in both romance and danger. Still, some have praised the film for its sheer spectacle.
All Critics (167) | Top Critics (37) | Fresh (54) | Rotten (113) | DVD (16)
My own reaction to the current version fashioned by Mr. Schumacher is one of pure stupefaction. Jan 27, 2005 | Full Review…
My own reaction to the current version fashioned by Mr. Schumacher is one of pure stupefaction.
Andrew Sarris
The plot is impressively free of anything that does not smell of unpasteurized melodrama. Jan 15, 2005
The plot is impressively free of anything that does not smell of unpasteurized melodrama.
Anthony Lane
Takes everything that's wrong with Broadway and puts it on the big screen in a gaudy splat. Dec 27, 2004
Takes everything that's wrong with Broadway and puts it on the big screen in a gaudy splat.
Stephanie Zacharek
This guy's not the Phantom of the Opera, he's the Fashionably Scarred Stud of the Opera and that just doesn't work. Dec 27, 2004
This guy's not the Phantom of the Opera, he's the Fashionably Scarred Stud of the Opera and that just doesn't work.
Richard Roeper
Joel Schumacher's film adaptation of Lloyd Webber's The Phantom of the Opera combines fingernails-on- blackboard audio agony with bamboo- under- fingernails physical torture. Dec 23, 2004 | Rating: 1.5/4
Joel Schumacher's film adaptation of Lloyd Webber's The Phantom of the Opera combines fingernails-on- blackboard audio agony with bamboo- under- fingernails physical torture.
Carrie Rickey
The movie version of Lloyd Webber's swooning 1986 horror operetta has been directed, by Joel Schumacher, as if Schumacher were the world's hardest-working upholstery salesman. Dec 23, 2004 | Rating: C+ | Full Review…
The movie version of Lloyd Webber's swooning 1986 horror operetta has been directed, by Joel Schumacher, as if Schumacher were the world's hardest-working upholstery salesman.
Owen Gleiberman
Too much of that film clung to the theatre experience, which ultimately appears wildly ingenuine on the silver screen. Jan 17, 2016 | Rating: 2.5/5 | Full Review…
Too much of that film clung to the theatre experience, which ultimately appears wildly ingenuine on the silver screen.
Kevin Carr
Commit one unforced error after another on its way to becoming one of the sloppiest major musicals of contemporary times. Apr 27, 2015 | Rating: 3/10 | Full Review…
Commit one unforced error after another on its way to becoming one of the sloppiest major musicals of contemporary times.
Tim Brayton
cinematically translated Webber's musical adaptation as well as humanly possible, Feb 4, 2013 | Rating: C | Full Review…
cinematically translated Webber's musical adaptation as well as humanly possible,
John A. Nesbit
The whole production feels cut and pasted, and it doesn't translate well to the big screen... Apr 29, 2009 | Rating: 2/4 | Full Review…
The whole production feels cut and pasted, and it doesn't translate well to the big screen...
Felix Vasquez Jr.
Fans of musical theater will work themselves into a lather over Joel Schumacher's by-the-book film version of Andrew Lloyd Webber's monotonous play, but most audiences will either fall asleep or hit the cinema doors running. Apr 18, 2009 | Rating: D+ | Full Review…
Fans of musical theater will work themselves into a lather over Joel Schumacher's by-the-book film version of Andrew Lloyd Webber's monotonous play, but most audiences will either fall asleep or hit the cinema doors running.
Cole Smithey
Fantastic sets, costumes, great art direction and imaginative camera work make this a visually stunning film. The musical score, not so much. Apr 10, 2008 | Rating: C+ | Full Review…
Fantastic sets, costumes, great art direction and imaginative camera work make this a visually stunning film. The musical score, not so much.
Robert Roten
The impressive sets, costumes, production direction and cinematography make for a stunning visual spectacle, but most of the songs - with the exception of two or three - are hideous (yes, I hate both Andrew Lloyd Webber and his musical) and Butler is a terrible singer.
Super Reviewer
Imagine a big budget Disney animation about a princess in a castle and then, right in the middle of the effort they switch, ala the black and white to color switch in The Wizard Of Oz, to live action, and that gives you an idea of what you're getting in this sumptuous Joel Schumacher production. It's all so big, so grand, the idea that you're meant to be impressed becomes more distracting than what's grand. Distracting from what, you ask? From the core idea, irreplaceable really, that the Phantom himself is a monster. Why it was decided to ditch that element I'll never know, but what remains is clear: boring filmmaking. So you get all the sets: tremendous. The music: not bad, like music videos for the last generation, big time. Costumes? Hoo boy! But connection? Very little. Missed it by THAT much.
Thoroughly enjoyable.
The sets, costumes, staging, and camera work are pretty good, but I think that Schumacher was the wrong choice as far as directing goes. I'm not one who thinks everything he does sucks, but still, this doesn't fit in with the rest of his filmography. There's nothing inherently wrong with trying to branch out though; it helps to do it well though, so let me just be kind, give this a "Gentleman's C" (or slight C+), and call it a noble failure. Emmy Rossum is quite attractive, and has some actual singing talent, so that helps the movie, and, even though I applaud Butler for trying his best to do his own singing, I must say that it doesn't work. He can't really pull it off. I mean, it is difficult part anyway, so even though he's so-so with the acting, his faults with the music kinda bring the rest of it down too. Perhaps this may find success as a camp classic? It certainly has all the trappings for it, no doubts about that. If you want a great movie musical adaptation from the 2000s though, stick with Sweeney Todd.
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