5) Mamma Mia! OK, I'll admit this is a guilty pleasure for me, but I'm being more analytical and there are some flaws with it. Firstly, the fact they got an all star cast really bothers me (before you say anything, I know Les Miz had an all star cast too, but the thing with Les Miz was most of the actors had a background in musical theatre) especially Pierce Brosnan as Sam! I just couldn't handle his singing, I had to mute it it was so bad, it sounded like he was drunk singing karaoke on a Saturday night! Also, I just feel like it was a fad to cram in every single ABBA song so the audience to sing along to instead of having a purpose to be there in the story. Most of them just come out of nowhere without warning and it really irritates me how they even reference them. Also, I feel like it's the perfect film to embarrass for parents to embarrass their kids with singing along to songs which are like 30 years old! However, not everything is bad. I do like the set, Meryl Streep and Dominic Cooper are really good as Donna and Sky and despite their bad singing, Christine baranski and Julie Walters are funny from time to time. Mamma Mia- sometimes, the winner doesn't take it all!
4) Rent. The main problem I have is that it shoves the whole 'misunderstood Bohemian' theme in your face unlike the show and it was just badly directed, which made it very boring. Also, the theme of homosexuality and AIDS is pretty outdated for the time of its release (which was 2005) since times have changed and we're more accepting. However, I do give them credit for getting a majority of the original cast back like Taye Diggs and Idina Menzel. The downside to it though is their ages. I refuse to believe that they're in their early 20s and I found most of the characters this time round annoying, especially Rosario Dawson as Mimi. Also, what happened to the Christmas Bells are Ringing song?! Rent- I won't be living La Vie Boheme any time soon!
3) Phantom of the Opera. Poor Andrew Lloyd-Webber, his chance to make his masterpiece onto the big screen, and it ends up as a total mess! Where do I begin with it? First off, the casting. I hated Emmy Rossum as Christine, she turned this strong and three dimensional character into an annoying bitchy damsel in distress. Also, her singing was much too weak and her vocal range doesn't fit the requirements. Gerard Butler was TERRIBLE, from his over the top acting to his shouting singing voice. I was not buying his performance one it and Patrick Wilson was just wimpy as Raoul. Also, the story is a complete mess and not coherent enough. It doesn't help that the changes made it even weaker, showing scenes which were unnecessary and cutting ones out which were relevant to the plot! Also, another thing is that the accents didn't match at all, which made it very confusing. I'm talking about British, Italian, Scottish and even American! The only person who attempted to do a French accent was Miranda Richardson as Madame Giry. I do give it credit that the visuals are spectacular with the costumes and the set, but it doesn't stop this train wreck of a film from being good. Phantom of the Opera the movie- Don't listen to this music of the night!OK, I know this is too low on the list and it should be a number one, but there are films that are much worse than this!
2) The Wiz! No, I'm not racist if it's about the fact the entire cast is African American! I love Diana Ross and Michael Jackson (rest in peace for always) but this film does not do any justice to them whatsoever. First off, Diana is much too old for Dorothy and is too weak as a protagonist and I swear she never looks invested in the film! Also, in the show she's a little girl and living in Kansas, not New York! Also, while has Nipsey Russell 4 musical numbers, Michael Jackson only has ONE and his dancing is just terrible (this was before the Moonwalk)! Yes, the King of Pop has ONE SONG out of over 20! The set of Oz is just crap and look like they were done in ten minutes. I've seen local plays which look better than this! Speaking of the songs, they are either too depressing or just stop the story from carrying on and just come out of nowhere up to the point the film barely has a minute for to rest. May I add that the camera angles are just terrible, especially during the Ease On Down the Road scene where the camera is 300 feet away and focusing on their backs! Yeah, I hate this movie and I was actually liking the Witch of the West cos her song was pretty much the only good one, but her death was much too stupid since ANYONE COULD'VE TURNED THE FIRE ALARM and her death was just so underwhelming with her throne being a giant toilet! I'll take it back- some of the songs are good, but none of them can help this botched up story and the large number of them just stop the film for nothing. The Wiz- This isn't a ease on down the road!1) Now before we get to number one, I just want to say, I was going to put High School Musical as number one, but then I came across something much much worse! This travesty is so insulting to the original and I don't know why this existed in the first place! Ladies and gentlemen, the number one worst film based on a Broadway musical is...........................................................................................................................................................................................................THE KING AND I ANIMATED REMAKE!
First of all, I want to say that I absolutely love Rogers and Hammerstein. They have been beloved for years and even now I like to watch their classics like Sound of Music and Carousel. At the same time, it still confuses me why this animated version of the King and I was approved and made in the first place! I feel like categorising this as a parody because nothing in it can ever function with the original. The story is so stupid and so confusing that it looks nothing like the original, with only the premise being the same. As for the songs, there are barely any at all and are so poorly executed and the singers were terrible, especially the singer for Anna! Also, the characters are either annoying, one dimensional, stupid or ripping off Disney, including one of the most racist things I've seen since Skids and Mudflap! Actually, it looks like the writers focused on it's sidekicks and side characters than the protagonists up to the point that we barely get to know any of them! Weeks after watching this, the pain and anger in watching it has just made me have trouble seeing the original! Also, the changes made are beyond jumping the shark, I'm talking about dragons, baby elephants, high fiving panthers and the Kralahome being an incompetent rip off of Jafar who changes his plans every five minutes! I love reviewing musicals and musical films, but sometimes, shit like this comes along and proves this isn't as glamorous as it seems!
