Andrew Lloyd Webber's most classic theatrical musical has finally gotten the cinematic treatment in the Joel Schumacher ( Phone Booth , Tigerland ) film, The Phantom of the Opera . With the current surging onset of musicals, from the Oscar-nominated Moulin Rouge , and the Oscar-winning Chicago , never has the time been perfect for the renowned composer to unleash his beloved play onto the silver screen. Schumacher has come up with this highly ambitious project, highlighted by immensely dazzling visuals, and capped off by Webber's unceasingly haunting music.

     Phantom recounts the strange affair of the Phantom (Gerard Butler) of the opera, when the lovely Christine (Emmy Rossum) is tapped to play the lead in one of the plays in the Paris opera house. The people surrounding the place are met with a frightening disfigured individual who lives in the confines of the building. The fate of Christine, the Phantom, and Raoul (Patrick Wilson) are put to the test.

      For most, there has been no other musical ever composed that matches the sheer magnitude and spectacle that is Webber's masterpiece. The opening sequence of the opera refurnishing by itself sent goose bumps down my spine as I gazed in amazement reaching the “Point of No Return.”

      Performances are collectively good, most especially Rossum's Christine who steals the entire show, not only with her stunning beauty but also astonishing vocals. However, the visuals have overwhelmed the performances to a certain extent, that one no longer follow the conflicts of the characters but instead subconsciously gawk instead at the grandiose set and art design, make-up and costuming.

      Webber has also added a highly unnecessary end credits song “Learn to be Lonely” performed by Minnie Driver, who plays Carlotta, that sounds more like a Norah Jones tune rather than your orchestral bombast. Other than that awful blunder, and the miscasting of Gerard Butler as the Phantom, the film astonishes the eyes and the ears, the mind and the soul, the joy and the sadness.

     Having not been able to see the musical on-stage, I am looking at this film as a stand-alone project. Experiencing the pain of the “Music of the Night,” and sighing at the elegance of the “Angel of Music,” through the dark tunnels underneath the Opera you'll find that this indeed is a film worth anyone's time. More so, it's worthy of one's heart. It moves beyond doubt.

My Grade: B+

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Photos taken from:
http://phantomthemovie. warnerbros.com/