Movie Critique #1: Les Mis

By Photo: Andreas Praefcke (Self-photographed) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

I'll admit it: I cried when I watched it. There were tears streaming down my face, I let the emotions get the best of me, and Anne Hathaway was absolutely breathtaking.

I saw Les Miserables on opening day. Now most of the time, that is a HUGE mistake. Almost every seat was taken and there are often emotionally unstable female counterparts that get riled up or start bawling whenever there is a plot twist.

But this time, I am glad I went on opening day. There were no interruptions, the audience was silent the ENTIRE TIME (which is completely rare considering there are a lot of small children where I live), and all of the audience members were completely drawn to this film.

Ladies and gentlemen, we have a WINNER!!!!

But before I begin on the judging, let's create a system of awards, shall we?

The movies will be judged in OSCARS (fitting, no?). I will be judging three aspects of the films: acting, set/costumes & makeup, and story line. There will be a total of 5 Oscars in each category and the maximum score is 15 Oscars. Simple enough, right? Well then, LET'S BEGIN!

ACTING
Having Hugh Jackman in the film automatically gives it an Oscar. He's talented, got the voice of an angel, and he's nice to look at. Anne Hathaway made me bawl, so that deserves some credit! The rest of the cast I was impressed with, except for Amanda Seyfreid. I love her, I do I do, but her part was WAY too high for her register. She sounded shrill in some areas, and that's not good when she's been cast in a main role.
Total Oscars: 3.5 (it would have been a 4, but I can't get over A.S.'s shrilling)

SET/COSTUMES:
Sheer genius, the set designer is.
I was blown away by the details put into the set. There was shredded wood on the floors from explosions, blood staining the set floor, even the hospital looked like a good place to die in. I mean, really?! How is that even possible?!
Total Oscars: 4

STORY LINE
It's quite simple, despite people's belief. I'll lay it out for you: Jean ValJean is an escaped prisoner who manages to become the mayor of a town. Fantine is trying to make money to pay people to take care of her little girl, Cosette. Fantine loses her job and ends up becoming a prostitute and she catches a nasty bug and dies. Her dying wish was for Cosette to be taken care of. So Jean ValJean does. Cosette grows up to be uber pretty and falls in love with Marius, a rebel of the French Revolution. But Cosette and Jean have to move around a lot because his old enemy, JaVer, is out for his hide. Then the rest of the story is about the Revolution and how Marius and Cosette find a way to get back together.

Voila, the story.
Total Oscars: 4 (would have been 5, but the film was wayyyyyyy too long)

Oscar Sum: 11.5 Oscars

Go out and see it if you can! It is a GREAT film, but for the love of holy cheese, buy a coke or something because you will need caffeine to keep you awake! It's almost three hours long!

Au revoir!

Katie