Gerard Butler, Emmy Rossum, Patrick Wilson, Minnie Driver; Directed by Joel Schumacher

The Phantom of the Opera tells the story of a young aspiring opera singer, Christine Daae, who gets the chance to prove her talent when the main star of the Opera Populaire quits the show. Her musical benefactor, the mysterious Phantom who roams the caverns and halls beneath the theatre, takes the chance to propel his apprentice to glory and fame. When a childhood friend of Christine’s makes an appearance, she soon becomes the center of a struggle for control over her career, her happiness, and her heart. This is a story full of song, spectacle, romance, and violence. It is not the first time novelist Gaston Leroux’s Phantom has appeared on screen, however this film does mark the first adaptation of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Broadway musical version of the legendary tale.

Okay, there is so much to deal with here. Let’s go with the visual aspect first. It was a sight to see. Outstretched arms of golden statues held up the box seats of the theatre. Extravagant candelabras rose from beneath the underground lake in the Phantom’s lair, - each candle bursting to life the moment they touched the air. Each set piece was given such attention to detail, down to each mirror frame and stair railing, - as well as the garish costumes of the grandiose performances and masquerades. Full advantage of this visual medium was taken, and really gave audiences a world of splendor and wonder to get lost in.

The singing talents of the three leads was satisfactory at best, - the only performance worth noting being that of the gifted Emmy Rossum, who played Christine. The songs themselves are fun, if not at times a little simple, but that may be the very thing that makes this musical so appealing to the millions of fans who have made the Broadway show the success it has become. Unfortunately, the most wanting element of this film is the acting. It seems that there was so much attention paid to every other aspect, that when the time came for direction to be given, Schumacher relied heavily on just letting the actors interpret what they saw in the script for themselves.

That may work well enough with more straightforward stories, but every actor needs at least a little guidance from a source outside of themselves to get the best view of their character that they can, - subjectively as well as objectively. The Phantom of the Opera is not a straightforward story.Emotions are mixing and changing from scene to scene, wants and desires move from one thing to another, and perceptions change like mad. While her voice served the film well, Ms. Rossum seemed to go though a good half of the film with a blank look on her face. What should have been awe and wonder became subdued complacency. The Phantom (Gerard Butler) had such an opportunity to make this character truly horrific and yet somehow endearing at the same time. Instead, what we get is a gentleman of an outcast, whose bouts of rage seem to dull after a while. I had always thought that Raoul (here played by Patrick Wilson) was a vastly boring character in the novel when I first read it. There is nothing different here.

Spoiler: The story ultimately presents Christine with the dilemma of choosing between the two very different men. The Phantom is volatile, yet passionate. Raoul is the golden-hearted boy with only the best of intentions for his beloved Christine. The choice should be difficult, but obvious. It isn’t. The Phantom is not the severely tortured soul whose murderous and deceitful actions lower him to a loathsome being in Christine’s eyes. Instead, he has been made into a debonair crooner, whose slightly marred face is more than forgiven by the rest of his handsome features. (How many girlfriends have I heard say ‘I could live with that,’ after his deformity is fully revealed?) By the end of the film, any lady in her right mind would’ve wanted to run off with the Phantom instead of with the extremely good Raoul. That should not have been the intention or the direction of the film.

This film was very strange. It summoned contradicting emotions in me. There were some scenes and moments that made the hair stand up on the back of my neck, while others had me frequently looking at my watch and berating myself for dropping three Goobers on the floor somewhere. The film went from being a musical, into an opera. Which is to say, there was a fair amount of spoken conversation in the first half, then all of a sudden, everyone started singing every little they had to say near the end.

It was very inconsistent. A beautiful film to look at, but the story wasn’t executed too smartly. It needed balance. It is entertaining, to be sure, but anyone interested in this film is going to have to decide for themselves whether spectacle and song are enough to make up for the other faults of the film. This film wasn’t great, but it certainly had the potential to be great, and that is mediocrity at its’ best.

Story = A-
Acting = C
Visuals = A+
Originality = B
Enjoyability = B
Overall Grade = B-