Finally watched the 2004 Phantom movie.

[betweensunandmoon]

It wasn't great, but it wasn't horrible. It could have been better, but I enjoyed it more than I thought I would.

Things I did:

-Yelled "Open your mouth!" at Emmy during "Think Of Me"
-Found the Phantom-kills-Buquet scene just as awesome as I remembered it
-Cried during "All I Ask Of You"
-Burst out laughing during the sword fight
-Squealed every time there was an R/C moment
-Squealed at wet, tied-up Patrick
-Missed Christine mouthing "I love you" to Raoul, so I kept rewinding the DVD until I saw it

Comments

[igenlode]

It isn't as bad as anti-movie fans would have you believe (I've seen comments like 'the set is obviously too small' and 'this is just incompetent film-making'; well, I've seen an awful lot of films, most of them far older than this one, and I didn't find it 'obviously' poor quality). The singing sounds fine in context, although it is clearly different when compared side by side with recordings from stage performers.
Patrick Wilson's hair is weird and pointless, and some of the plot changes (like the infamous 'ballet dormitories' and the Phantom becoming fixated on Christine when she was a small child -- and just when was she supposed to have met Raoul, if she was an orphan living in the Opera House?) appear to have been put in there for the benefit of a cool shot in a single scene without considering the ramifications. And it's very odd that with all the special effects potential offered by film they made such a mess of getting the Phantom's deformity across (according to the behind-the-scenes footage, they did put a lot of work into the makeup -- apparently it just doesn't show up properly in the lighting of the scene as shot!)

But you wouldn't expect this to be the film that was rsponsible for so many teenage girls declaring that they hated Raoul and couldn't stand the thought of R/C, given the amount of extra heroism they went around adding in to Raoul's character... presumably it's the attractions of the youthed-up Phantom as played by Gerard Butler that are to blame :-p

[betweensunandmoon]

There's a lot of pointless stuff and stuff that should have been cut and stuff that doesn't make sense in context, but overall it's not that bad of a movie.

I honestly couldn't figure out what the movie was trying to do with the Phantom and Raoul. The people in charge were clearly going for a sexy angle on the Phantom (casting Gerard Butler, toning down his deformity, putting him in tight outfits)...but then we got that shot of him smiling as he strangles a man. They went for an action-hero angle on Raoul...but kept cutting to the Phantom during his big love duet with Christine, making the scene about the Phantom and not Raoul and Christine.

Is the Phantom a dangerous killer, or is he a misunderstood guy who just needs love? Are we supposed to see Raoul as a noble young man who would do anything for the woman he loves, or are we supposed to be mad at him for getting in the Phantom's way? If they were trying make both options seem equally appealing, why did they do such a clumsy job of it? I don't know, and I don't think the movie does, either.

Someone didn't realize the Phantom's attraction is psychological rather than physical, hence the sexy Phantom. And now we have to deal with a horde of Raoul-hating fangirls. :P

[igenlode]

Nice analysis -- when I rewatched the picture I remember being very struck by that whole scene of Buquet's death, where the Phantom is quite clearly being depicted as the monster out of a horror movie. Very effective (this shouldn't be a nice or an easy scene to watch), but completely at odds with the 'poor woobie Phantom' line taken elsewhere in the screenplay.

There's precedent for reminding us that the Phantom is overhearing Raoul and Christine's love scene, I think (Leroux keeps hinting at an eavesdropper during "Apollo's Lyre"), and it doesn't undercut their happiness together; it's more a case of over-milking the 'ah, woe is me' theme. It's poignant the first time, less so if you keep doing it. Especially as he gets a canon reveal and solo immediately afterwards.

I think you pretty much summed it up in that they were trying to have their cake and eat it -- make the Phantom dangerous and pathetic and have us want to pair Christine off with the Phantom and with Raoul -- although in fact when you phrase it that way, you've ended up with a pretty good description of the appeal of the stage show!

I'm still puzzled by the Raoul-hating fangirls, but I assume that it's blind hate for anyone who gets in the way of the sexy Phantom...