Capsule reviews of the next week’s video releases, on DVD and Blu-ray:
“Into the Woods”
PG, 126 minutes, Disney
Some of the Broadway musical’s fans will feel shortchanged by the movie no matter what, but you have to give credit where it’s due. The adaptation is pretty faithful to the original, an intricate fable that thumbed its nose at “happily ever after” and embraced the grimmest of Grimm’s fairy tales. Despite some streamlining, director Rob Marshall’s adaptation is not all kid’s stuff with singing teapots and friendly mice. There are plenty of dark detours. The sprawling array of characters and plot points from playwrights Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine are still here, the concept is clever, the performances are strong and the music is brilliant. Oscar-nominee Meryl Streep is marvelous, bringing a degree of poignancy to her conniving witch character. But there’s something conspicuously missing amid all the chaos: a heart. Contains fantasy action, peril and some suggestive material.
“Unbroken”
PG-13, 137 minutes, Universal
The most surprising thing about the sturdy, if slightly starchy, storytelling of “Unbroken” is that it comes courtesy of director Angelina Jolie, an artist never known for constraint in front of the camera. Her sophomore effort as a fiction filmmaker is impeccably acted, handsomely filmed and written, with a lean muscularity, by a quartet of heavyweights including Joel and Ethan Coen, Richard LaGravanese and William Nicholson. Based on Laura Hillenbrand’s 2010 bestseller about Olympic runner Louis Zamperini, who was held prisoner by the Japanese during World War II, the film is stirring when it needs to be. The scenes of aerial combat that open the film and, later, those set at sea, where Louis, a bombardier, spent more than six weeks on a raft after his B-24 crashed, are particularly gripping. The main body of the tale, which concerns Louis’ torture at the hands of a sadistic prison commander is even more harrowing. As Louis, the English-Irish actor Jack O’Connell is pretty great, both at evoking the character’s suffering and at rendering Louis’ will to survive. Contains violence, some coarse language and brief nudity
“The Hobbit: The Battle of Five Armies”
PG-13, 144 minutes, New Line
Despite the film’s title, Bilbo Baggins, played charmingly by Martin Freeman, is almost entirely absent. Despite two critical plot turns in which he provides invaluable service, the title character is relegated to second- or third-class status, swept away by scenes that alternate between grandiose mayhem and a protracted death match on an icy mountaintop between the dwarf-king Thorin (Richard Armitage) and the orc leader Azog (Manu Bennett). That last character, who is now the film’s grand villain, was only mentioned by J.R.R. Tolkien in passing. But who’s counting? You may, however, find yourself looking at your watch. At times, it feels as if “The Battle of the Five Armies” was filmed in real time. Contains action and violence.
Television Series: “Mr. Bean: The Whole Bean: 25th Anniversary Collection” (1990-95, four-disc set of the British comedy series starring Rowan Atkinson), “Don Matteo: Sets 9 &10” (2005-06, Italian series with a crime-solving priest) and “Bukow and Konig: Sets 1 &2” (1971, German police series).
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
