Movie Review: Into The Woods

I wasn't too familiar with Into The Woods - so no real high expectations were set - but I seriously felt empty after watching the film. The concept of combining famous fairy tales in one story was plain brilliant, the performances were mostly terrific, and they actually created a beautifully crafted world as a backdrop, but then again, some of the flaws here were too glaring to ignore. The pacing was problematic, some of the visual effects were spotty, and the songs were shockingly underwhelming. Don't get me wrong, the lyrics were wonderful, but they were shapeless with no memorable melody. Many of them even sounded too identical that halfway through, I somehow reached full song saturation. Oh, and that final act was a mess. Not sure if that's how it really was on stage, but the final act seemed lazy, rushed, and possibly one of the most disorganized plot twists in recent memory. Into The Woods had some great moments and I could tell that the film started off with much energy and promise, but as time went by everything just faded.. 6.5