You definitely have to enjoy or at least appreciate the classic Broadway musical "The Phantom of the Opera," by Andrew Lloyd Webber, to like its first motion picture version even a little. My rating of this picture was marginally this high. It would have been less, but this movie version ended very strong, leaving a decent impression on me.

"The Phantom of the Opera," originally based on the novel by Gaston Leroux, is about Christine, a chorus girl in a Paris opera house, who gets her big break after the facility's prima donna Carlotta walks off a production.

Much to the surprise of the show's cast, Christine holds her own in a leading role and instantly has a fanbase with her performance. However, to chorus manager Madame Giry, her abilities are no surprise. Christine has been taking private lessons from a dark figure who resides many, many, MANY stories beneath the opera house, known as the Opera Ghost.

Christine is drawn to this visage, referred to as The Phantom, believing he is an apparition sent to her by her late father; an angel of music. However, being drawn to Christine is Raoul, a childhood friend and now ward of the new owners of the facility.

Later, Raoul discovers The Phantom is merely a circus freak, hidden in the depths of the opera house by Madame Giry, when she was a young dancer boarding there. As time went on, he vicariously learned all aspects of opera and theatrical production, working on a masterpiece of his own. In addition, he has fallen madly in love with Christine, but is too selfconscious of himself and his disfigured face to make things work between them.

However, his jealousy gets the best of him when Christine secretly accepts Raoul's marriage proposal. The picture ends with the opera house in flames, a noose around Raoul's neck and Christine having to make a choice. If she takes The Phantom as a lover, then he lets Raoul live. If not, he dies.

Christine picks The Phantom, but knowing her choice was only to save Raoul, he allows the too of them to leave with a face full of tears. I've always enjoyed a nemisis who shows moments of humanity. The ending, although romanticized like the rest of the picture, was very heartfelt and not contrived.

Gerard Butler (Dear Frankie) plays our Phantom fairly well. Emmy Rossum (The Day After Tomorrow) plays Christine. This girl is SO adorable in this picture. She also shows a few solid moments of complexity, but when it comes to mouthing the lyrics to her vocal scenes, she flat out sucks. There are a handful of moments where we hear this glorious voice coming out of this cute little frame, and her mouth doesn't even look open. Making a decent presence as Raoul is Patrick Wilson (Angels in America).

The best performance came from Miranda Richardson (Tom & Viv) as Madame Giry, the only actor willing to use a French accent, even though the movie is set in Paris, France. The most fun performance came out of Minnie Driver (Good Will Hunting) as the diva Carlotta. Every scene, where she says more than two words, had me giggling. She was great.

This brings me to the picture's faults. Yes, there are no other French accents in this French story except for Richardson and Driver. Driver's is an Italian accent for a humorous Italian character. Otherwise, every one either sounds English or American. I believe actors Simon Callow (Shakespeare in Love) and Ciaràn Hinds (The Sum of All Fears), as the new opera house owners/managers, are supposed to be playing Englishmen, but it's tough to tell. So, in this regard, the cast overall feels less tight than it could.

Director Joel Schumacher (Batman Forever, Phone Booth) finally hit a project in his visually flamboyant niche, especially after destroying the "Batman" franchise. His shot selection and overall concept was more than fitting for the screen version of Webber's melodramatic work.

However, some of the blocking during musical numbers was stiff and slow moving. He didn't use slow motion, but rather actors "moved" slowly, as if they were under water. I have a strong suspicion he allowed Webber, who co-wrote the screenplay, to dictate the blocking in these scenes; bad move.

Overall, the picture is meldodramatic and a little sappy. However, it's told through the memories of Raoul, who was very much in love at the time and sees these events with a sappy lovers perspective, so the style kind of works.

My last criticism is one I've made ever since I heard the original cast recording of the musical. The part of The Phantom was written for Broadway star Michael Crawford (Broadway's Barnum), who in my opinion, was only cast because he was a big star. I think Crawford is a huge stage talent, but completely wrong for this role. Webber's decision to write the part for Crawford was horrible. As a result, this dark brooding and internally agonized character of The Phantom sings with a tenor's voice. Because our romantic nemisis sings like his scrotum is caught in a pair of vice-grips, the vocals for the character work just as horrible on film as they do on stage.

I've always loved the music from Webber's "The Phantom of the Opera." It's the only Webber musical I can even tolerate. However, as a film, it is WAY over the top. In my opinion, because of Schumacher's concept, shot sequences and very ingenuitive transitions, this picture is pretty damn enjoyable.

Again, if you DO NOT already have an appreciation for Webber's "Phantom…," then you will probably find this picture unbearable. For me, I thought it was cool. The picture's art direction and costuming are worth the ticket alone.

Benn - Where's the Humanity?