Movie Review: The Phantom of The Opera (2004)

This movie was very fun to watch especially since I knew most of the songs in it. (Such as Think of Me, All I Ask of You, and Phantom of The Opera.) I do compare the movie to the book in the movie review.

This movie is rated: PG-13 

Thoughts about the plot (and accuracy to the book)
**This may contain spoilers for the original book and the movie: read with caution**  

The movie opened with an auction, which I have to say was a pretty neat way to start the story.
In the book the story opens with people investigating what happened at the opera, and the movie did an interesting twist and went back and forth between the present (which was in black and white) and the past (which was in color).

Another change to the original story is that Christine did not pass out on stage after singing Think of Me (in the book she sang a different song). As a result Raoul didn't show up on stage to ask if she remembered him (since he was the boy who caught her scarf when she was little).
Instead he came to her dressing room and talked to her.  To me it felt kinder to the character Raoul to do that, rather than to have Christine laugh at him, because she "doesn't" remember him. Both versions of the scene managed to communicate Raoul's and Christine's relationship. The audience in both could see that they truly loved each other. I believe both scenes effectively illustrated that Christine was protecting Raoul from the Phantom. 

Compared to the book, however, the movie is not a mystery. It immediately shows what happened to Christine Daaé, you actually know her story as the movie progresses, there is a kind of mystery when she walks through a mirror (which is revealed cleverly to be a stage mirror). And in the movie the audience sees the Phantom's lair, which is revealed much earlier in the movie than it is in the book. In a way the movie is retelling the story from the point of view of Christine (in the book the story is told by Raoul).

The movie is a musical, which slightly changes the story of The Phantom of The Opera, so it was not entirely true to the book. One scene that stood out to me which was particularly different was the moment when the chandelier was supposed to fall when the diva started croaking. They did have it fall at the end, but they had a different reason why it had to fall. Another important difference was the murder of Joesph Bouquet, which they moved later in the movie after the song, Poor Fool He Makes Me Laugh. 

As for the Phantom (also known as Erik), I felt that he was a hard character to feel sorry for in both versions. Since he murdered people in cold blood, wouldn't let Christine out of his sight, wouldn't let her do anything like getting married or be with other men. (Which is what happened in the book.)
He proved himself to be cold hearted, and if he didn't get what he wanted he would lash out at the stage hands, singers, and Raoul. Though one thing I found neat was that the movie actually talked about his past. Erik's past is also talked about in the book from the Persian's point of view, he talks about Erik being displayed in fairs and to royalty as "the living corpse." Erik also mentions that his own mother would not kiss him because he was so ugly.

I enjoyed the added information in the movie about how Erik actually got to the opera, it was definitely worth having in the movie. As for the "romance" of Christine and Erik (which isn't really a romance, it's more of him trying to stalk and control her) there wasn't really a lot of it in the movie, at all. At points she did try to runaway from him, and there are several lines where she states she is afraid of him such as in the song, Why Have You Brought Me Here? / Raoul I've Been There, which shows that she doesn't want to be controlled by Erik anymore. The only "romance" that there is between Christine and Erik is the scene in, the Point of No Return, where she does kiss Erik. However, she does this to help with Raoul's plan to defeat the Phantom (Raoul does seem a litte shocked that she would do that, however, there are two reasons for his shock: It is the Victorian time period, so it could scar Christine's reputation to kiss a man she isn't married to (however, she did also kiss Raoul, so perhaps that proves that Christine doesn't care about what society thinks of her), and Raoul probably didn't think she would go as far with their plan as to kiss the Phantom). Perhaps Christine felt sorry for the Phantom. Another thing that distinguished the Phantom's relationship with Christine from Raoul's, was that Erik would give her a rose with a black ribbon tied around it, while Raoul gave Christine a ring. Raoul, being a gentleman, would have had enough money to buy a ring, while the Phantom didn't have any money and he can only get Christine a rose (although he then takes the ring that Raoul gave her, and gives to her as "present" from himself). In the movie Christine drops the rose, while in the book she loses the ring in the book. It is an interesting choice, because  she doesn't panic when she drops the rose, but in the book she panics when she loses the ring.

One cool thing that I remember that the Phantom had in his lair, was a miniature version of the Opera House, that he had set up for certain acts of the opera Christine was singing (mostly the ones with Christine in them). Nearing the end of the movie, I thought it was neat, that Raoul was in a group with some of the other characters thinking of a plan to stop the Phantom, while in the book he is just with one other person.

Nearing the end point of the movie when they had the chandelier fall, it causes a fire, which didn't happen in the book.  In the book the chandelier falls, and kills someone and doesn't cause a fire. The whole sequence of the fire was very stressful. I won't give out the details of it entirely, but there was a character missing from this sequence, the Persian, who accompanies Raoul in the book when he is trying to rescue Christine. One interesting thing in the movie was that there was no torture chamber in that scene, which was described in the book as being forest-like, though I suppose the place where Raoul managed to find himself after trying to run after the Phantom is somewhat like the torture chamber, however, it appears much earlier and during the Masquerade scene.

As for the ending, it is sad. It shows Christine's grave years after Raoul's and Christine's marriage. That she seemed to die early, was the saddest part of the movie I thought. But one of the most interesting parts of that scene was that a rose with a black ribbon tied around it was left at her grave...which might mean that the Phantom is still alive. However, I am not going to connect Christine's death with the musical, Love Never Dies, or suggest that the Phantom may still be alive. Even though this movie is a musical based on a book, I see it as a stand alone story. 




The Scenery and Costumes 

The Costumes: the costumes in this movie were awesome,
especially Raoul's and Christine's.

(image from Rotten Tomatoes, https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/phantom_of_the_opera#&gid=1&pid=h-3270) 

This dress I have to say is one of my most favorite dresses that shows up in the film.

(image from Rotten Tomatoes, https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/phantom_of_the_opera#&gid=1&pid=h-23274 )

Raoul's outfit looks so comfortable.

(image from Rotten Tomatoes, https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/phantom_of_the_opera#&gid=1&pid=h-28900)

                     I love Christine's dress, and Raoul's jacket in this scene from the movie.

(image from Rotten Tomatoes https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/phantom_of_the_opera#&gid=1&pid=h-36642) 

(I'm not very fond of the Phantom's clothes, though the fact that he has two interchangeable masks is kind of cool.) However, I do love the ruffles on Christine's dress.

As for the scenery in the opera house, it was very well done (it probably took them a long time to make it). 

The Music 

The music from this movie definitely had an operatic feel to it, which added to its awesomeness. Here are some of my favorite songs from the movie (in no particular order): 



                                                       Think of Me 

                                         You can also listen to it here 
                                      I like the elements of opera music they have in this song 
                                      (though it's not in Italian). 

                                   
                                       That's All I Ask of You 

You can also listen to it here 

I love Christine's and Raoul's duet. 

Phantom of the Opera 

                                      You can also listen to it here
                                     I knew this song, even before I found the movie
                                (or the musical) and I thought it was interesting.


                                                              Overture 

  You can also listen to it here

Even though this just instrumental (and you can't exactly sing along to it), 

this is one of my favorite songs from the movie. 

Overall rating for this movie: 

Despite some inaccurate scenes, the movie was awesome.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 
Have you seen this movie? If you have what did you think of it? 

Love,
Quinley