The much anticipated film is based on Stephen Sondheim’s play, mashing up a bunch of different fairytales to more subversive effect. In a magical kingdom by a great forest, a baker and his wife (James Corden and Emily Blunt) are desperate to have a child together. Alas, the baker is cursed with childlessness by the Witch who lives next door (Meryl Streep) over a quarrel with his deadbeat dad, (Simon Russell Beale.) Each of the characters has a quest of their own, but they all cross over with one another as they tread the familiar paths, with consequences that reach as far as the cloudy domain of the giants that live in the sky. All the same, it takes place squarely in the periphery of anything we do know about these fairytale characters. It’s a film that’s more about what happens beneath the neat ‘happily ever after’ that closes most of these stories, exploring the more sordid and human side. As a side effect, lots of iconic events occur off-screen and are either sung about after the fact, or exposited through James Corden’s ceaselessly irritating narration. In his on-screen capacity, Corden makes for an enthusiastic everyman, building a likeable, frazzled chemistry with the wonderful Emily Blunt as his screen wife. Their frustrating fetch-quest gives the film a lot of spark, bringing more of a pantomime atmosphere than Marshall really allows elsewhere. Refreshingly, it’s the big hitters in the cast who really let loose with the panto affectations. Meryl Streep’s Witch BAMFs into scenes all over the shop and generally belts out numbers in much the same way as she did in Mamma Mia! Johnny Depp, who’s no stranger to Sondheim after leading Tim Burton’s Sweeney Todd, still has a limited vocal range, but his zoot-suited take on the Big Bad Wolf at least makes for a memorable cameo. The true comic highlight of the film is a number called Agony, in which he and another Prince (Billy Magnussen) try to upstage one another in a heartsick, shirt-ripping duet. Blunt’s Moments In The Woods is a great number too, and Your Fault is both the best part of a lumpen third act and the closest the film really gets to sustaining any energy. The trouble is, none of the songs are all that catchy. The popularity of the show speaks to the effectiveness of the songbook on stage, but something must have got lost in translation. The reliance on pivotal events happening off-screen isn’t surprising, so much as perfunctory, forsaking any emotional impact in what should be huge developments, particularly in the last hour of the film. Into The Woods has a reputation as a subversive, darkly funny fairytale, but there’s nothing so interesting to be had in this film adaptation. Many of the players are having a great time, even if the audience isn’t, but it’s carried through by standout performances from Blunt, Kendrick and especially Pine. Fans of the show have taken umbrage with the sanitisation of certain darker plot twists, but looking at the whole picture, it’s more bland than safe. Perhaps, if it had strayed from the path a little further, we might have gotten something altogether more lively. Follow our Twitter feed for faster news and bad jokes right here. And be our Facebook chum here.