Les Miserables 2012 Movie Review Part One!!!

"I did not live until todaaaaaaaay"

(well, to be exact, I watched it last Saturday, but I'm still watching it inside my head. Know what I mean?)

Moving on.

Where do I start? My mum bought this movie one day and for a couple of weeks my sister and I were going crazy waiting to FINALLY SEE IT AND IT WAS SO EPIC. 

Anyway, I'll start by saying that I have read the book and all, but this is my first time seeing a musical adaptation. I knew some of the songs and that, but not all of them and I was basically listening to them all week before I could see it on the screen.

"Look Down" was amazing. The whole ship-and-ropes-and-grunting and singing was incredible. Hugh Jackman was pretty good, but he seems to sing each song in a different voice.

I had been warned about Russell Crowe's awful voice. I was dreading it, but seriously it wasn't all that bad.....but the way he belts out "FIVE years for WHAT you did.....therestbecauseyou TRIED to run...." sounded like he was giving himself a sore throat. And since when is 'itinerary' pronounced 'itinery'???

COME ON.

The Bishop has always been one of my favourite characters.....he's so gentle and kind, and the film really shows how he reaches out to Valjean and shows him love that he's never experienced before. The love of God is life-changing.

The scene in the church with that random effigy was slightly unnerving but well sung I thought.(btw, I don't know all the names of the songs.)

So. Now he's a well-respected Mayor and in a sense above Javert which is highly ironic.

"You forget yourself."

"Forgive me."

'At the End of the Day' was great. Those nasty factory women. Fantine has sinned in her youth and is paying the consequences. Getting her fired is not going to help her. I have to say that Anne Hathaway was AMAZING. I loved her voice, loved the emotion and pathos she brought to the role. (Just so ya know, we skipped 'Lovely Ladies' and in the process, sadly missed 'I Dreamed a Dream'. But I have listened to it a gazillion times and it is tearjerking.)

Fantine's death was so pitiful. The whole Valjean/Javert fighting in a hospital ward room thing was slightly weird but well sung. 'Stars' was probably Javert's best song. It made you understand that Javert thinks he is doing right to chase Valjean down until he gets him. 

Now for the most despicable characters in the show.

No. We did not watch Master of the House. Thankyou.

My sister and I have affectionately(not) denoted M. and Mme. Thenardier as "Tweedledumb" and "Tweedledumber." But not in that order. I thought they were pretty close to the book but Thenardier wasn't as smart and conniving as he is in the book. These two are horridly entertaining and wear too much makeup.

Which. of course, by contrast, makes this little one seem even more cutesy than she is. And she is adorably cute. (shecansingbetterthanican.) I loved 'Castle on a Cloud' and how you get to see her and Eponine as kids and how differently they're treated and you can understand them when they're older and all.....and the rag doll thing was cute.

I need a new word that means the same thing as 'cute.' Because how else can I describe Valjean and Cosette's father/daughter relationship? And how she absolutely trusts him...funny, if I'd grown up with the Tweedledumbs, I would not.trust.anyone.

The abbey was cool, and how Valjean and Fauchelevent recognized eachother. The chase with Javert was quite neat too.

AAAAAAaaaand next time, Part Two!

A trailer of the next post:

Fangirling over Enjolras, Gavroche, Marius, and Basically All of the Barricade Boys.

Why I Like Enjolras Better than Marius.

How Eponine is AMAZING.

How I Cried.

And, of course, more levelheaded musings over the costumes and songs.