When it comes to converting a famous stage musical to a movie, I expect the outcome to be more than what the stage version provides - great lyrics, great melodies, and great staging wrapped into a great experience. Otherwise, see the stage version! So I'm unhappy to report Hooper and company fail to fully embrace what movies can do and instead give us a half-breed of musical and film.
The opening number's awful CGI rendition seems intentionally lame as if to say we know a movie scene in 2012 could be more but we choose not to provide that experience. Same with the later rooftop scene with Javert's singing to the stars.
My distraction as to what this effort is adding to Les Miz's legacy was then compounded by the wait for opening credits which never came. Finally, you realize the curtain has lifted and what we are seeing is an overblown stage production except this time retakes were allowed! Geez, handed the opportunity to adapt possibly the greatest modern musical into a movie and that's what we get?
To its credit as a filmed stage production, I've always suffered thru "Master of the House" but not this time. Clever business, excellence in details, and great acting/singing by the three name duo of Cohen and Carter made that number finally worthy of its place in the show.
While much is made of the mega-stars, for my money Samantha Barks as adult Éponine shines brightest with her singing.
The most flattering thing my wife and I could say about the movie was we finally heard more lyrics in an understandable manner than ever before. There were a few chorus numbers with unintelligible voices and as always the duets and trios are near impossible to discern. If you don't know the lyrics, relax and enjoy the harmonious sounds of voices and orchestra together.
Warning to parents: The young rascal in the revolution dies a harsh death by gunfire; an untimely choice by Hooper given the recent slaughter of innocent school kids. Why was I not surprised the most movie-like aspect of the film was the gore and dying? When it came to violence, Hooper suddenly embraces film's ability to focus, zoom, and make you confront the images on the screen.
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