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LoganCrews (2861 KP) rated The Phantom of the Opera (2005) in Movies

Sep 20, 2020

The Phantom of the Opera (2005)

2005 | Drama, Horror, Musical

7.3

(20 Ratings)

Movie Rating

I have to admire the spectacle but I found this to be mostly didactic, repetitious as a musical (there's only like 3.5 good songs and the rest are just unendurable variants of the exact same one) and nearly nonexistent as a romance. I do admit this almost works as a total campfest, Gerard Butler totally butchering these classical-inspired ballads that require flawless vocal range is actually pretty hilarious. On the flipside I spent most of the time in complete awe of how astonishing Emmy Rossum is in this, only 18 years old at the time and effortlessly nails every formidable note not to mention looks the part seamlessly. This is through and through her movie, every inch top to bottom. I should also add that the movie looks extraordinary - the sets, the costumes, the makeup, the cast, all of it. But would some fucking choreography every now and again kill these people? The stakes, too, are paper-thin - things just happen without delving too deeply (if at all) into the consequences/implications of them so a good chunk of scenes just pass through without making any sort of effect. Lastly this gets docked extra points for ruining the best part of the musical by making it too obvious that Christine was going to give The Phantom the ring from the start of that moment. I have seen much worse, though; this would have been noticeably better if they'd just gotten more people who could sing.

Kudos

Leanne Crabtree (480 KP) rated The Raven King (All for the Game, #2) in Books

Jan 11, 2021

So this one picks up a few days after the events of the first with everyone dealing with the death of one of their team. Neil has slowly been pulled into Kevin and Andrew's crew and is coming to terms with the fact that Riko has it in for him.

I do feel a little like this series should have been reviewed as one thing, really, as the story continues across all three but it would be one thick arse book if the author had done that.

Every single team member has grown on me a lot with this book. They are finally coming together thanks to Neil who has been straddling both halfs of the team, starting to settle into his life at Palmetto and making friends. I thought Nicky summed it up brilliantly with this quote:

"Oh, you just might be the best thing to happen to the Foxes."

This one has some dark scenes in it like the first but they affected my feelings in regards to a certain character more this time around. I'm just glad that Neil was being a super sleuth and managed to put it all together with all the little titbits that had been thrown out.

I've already started book 3 because I am slightly obsessed with this series right now, despite its lack of romance up to this point. Will review it when I'm done!