Theatre review: Billy Elliot (The Musical)

Loved it!

I won't recap the story for you here since you would have lived under a rock if you haven't heard about Billy Elliot or seen the movie.

Oh wait...I do know someone. So, before we watched the musical, we watched the movie as apparently we'll get to appreciate the musical more if we did. Having done that, I wouldn't disagree. There are certain nuances to the character and certain pacing in the movie script that gives you a bit more insight. While the musical kept the characters and situations intact, you can certainly call upon your memories of the movie to add more dimension to what is said and done on stage.

The music by Elton John is great, although I have to admit it's not at the same level as, say, The Lion King. For me, though, what really stole the show was Billy himself. Not only can the kid act and make you believe that he honestly can't dance at the beginning, but boy, can he dance! It's the energy that he brings to the performance that makes you root for him, not just for the Billy Elliot character, but for the actor himself - it's amazing to see such skill from someone so young!

All in all, I was glad to have paid full price for this one...go see it while it's in town!

Pellet reviews: The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader

The third outing of the Narnia series was also the second one I've watched at home - I've seen only the first one at the theatre. I'm not sure whether or not that had anything to do with my opinion of the movie, but suffice it to say that the first one is still the best.

Narnia 3 (just so I don't have to type that oh-so-long title again) brings back two of the Pevensie children plus their annoying cousin back into the world of Narnia. There, they meet up with King Caspian (who was the titular Prince of the second movie) and go on a quest to find yet another source of evil in the empire. The Dawn Treader is the ship that they sail on.

I haven't read the book, but I would have imagined the "voyage" to be a bit more epic, and less like point A to point B to point C. Perhaps some of it was lost to Hollywood truncation. Some of the "messages" also lacked subtlety; stuff like inner beauty, loyalty, and not judging a book by its cover all came across loud and clear to the point where it's practically spelled out for you. I guess if you're bringing the young ones to the movie then I suppose it works. Unfortunately, my own little one was too busy chewing his bone to pay any mind. Besides, I think the points would have been lost on him anyway.

** Minor spoiler alert **

The movie didn't really pick up for me until the dragon came along. From there on, both the action and the emotional connection picked up and pretty much kept going until near the end of the movie (where yet another "message" hits you on the head with the force of a gazillion hammers). It was too bad that this happened past the halfway mark otherwise I would have been more engaged.

** End spoiler **

So is this a keeper? Like I mentioned in another review, I think the special effects makes this one, plus the fact that this is a part of a series. I'm glad I waited to watch it at home, at this point I'm not sure if it would have made a difference had I seen it on the big screen.