Movie - The Phantom of the Opera

I watched this movie in first day of 2005 at Langham Place.

A bit disappointed.

The theater (house 1) is not big, however there are ample space around the seat. The arm rest can be raised for those sweet couple. The only complain for it is the sound system's poor dynamic range that hide find details of the movie and poor positioning. (Later on I found the quality of the soundtrack is also very disappointing, which could be a reason of the poor performance of the sound system.)

The Phantom (Gerard Butler) is the worst. He lacks the power and the feel the character was meant to be when he sang. Emmy Rossum is doing a good job, bringing a charming voice to the character Christine. And she can act. Don't expect too much on signing from the leading characters. Actually the team has do some fine pieces, one of them being Masquerade.

Probably the originals (CDs) are so good that new singers find it difficult to compete with. Focus on setting and acting and the movie should not disappoint you, and I would consider these are the key elements instead of singing.

Think twice if you are very serious about the signing. If you just want to get the story, I would recommend it with no hesitation.

The final message: If you really love someone, set him/her free.

PHANTOM:
Take her - forget me - forget all of this . . .
Leave me alone - forget all you've seen . . .
Go now - don't let them find you!
Take the boat - leave me here - go now,
don't wait . . .
Just take her and go - before it's too late . . .
Go . . .
Go now - go now and leave me!

(RAOUL and CHRISTINE move off towards the boat. The PHANTOM looks mockingly at his mask. The musical box starts up magically, and he listens to it)

Masquerade . . .
Paper faces on parade . . .
Masquerade . . .
Hide your face
so the world will
never find you . . .

(CHRISTINE re-enters and walks slowly towards him. She takes off her ring and gives it to the PHANTOM)

PHANTOM:
Christine, I love you . . .

(She hurries off The PHANTOM puts the ring on his finger)

CHRISTINE:
(In the distance, to RAOUL, as the boat pulls away in the shadow)
Say you'll share with
me, one
love, one lifetime . . .
say the word and I will follow you . .

RAOUL:
Share each day with me . . .

CHRISTINE:
. . . each night . . .

BOTH:
. . . each morning . . .

PHANTOM:
(looking after her) You alone can make my song take flight -
it's over now, the music of the night . . .