toesucker17's blog post - Finally saw Les Mis...

Alright, here come my thoughts on Les Miserables. Get ready, this is gonna be long lol...

Ok, let me get this out of the way first. I wasn't exactly thrilled with the fact that some lyrics were changed from the stage show. Don't get me wrong, some of the changes were good, but what I hated were the changes (and omissions) that ruined rhymes. Rent had a few too but not nearly as many as in this film. So yeah, there were a few points where I just groaned at how the rhythm of the song was thrown off by the non-rhyme.

Ok, that being said, Hugh Jackman is AMAZING as Valjean. I seriously think he could play the part onstage.

Russel Crowe was everything I thought he'd be as Javert and less.

Having a scene between Valjean & Javert before "The Runaway Cart" was an interesting addition.

Anne Hathaway was brilliant as Fantine. And I actually like that they moved "I Dreamed A Dream" to after "Lovely Ladies", it's honestly much more effective, & I'd like to see future stage productions adopt this change.

Ok, "The Confrontation", as soon as Javert pulled out his sword & I realized he & Valjean were going to dual during the song, my mind went "Oh, sweet Jesus, no!", but you know what? They pulled it off & I was impressed.

"Master Of The House" was one of the biggest highlights for me, Sasha Baron Cohen NAILED Thenardier. Just two words: "Oh, Santa!" had me laughing very hard. Also the customers staring at an embarrassed Thenardier's crotch after Madame sings the line "But there's not much there"

The chase through Paris was an interesting addition. I mean looking back at other movie musicals, it wasn't as jarring a change as say, the commitment ceremony in Rent or that damn graveyard sword-fight in Phantom Of The Opera. But that does create the problem of why Cossette is so curious as an adult as to why Valjean is so secretive. I mean, she was being chased by Javert with him so obviously she'd know that he has some sort of criminal past.

Ok, Eddie Redmayne, I'm sorry but I was a little disappointed. Not the best Marius I've ever heard (but certainly not the worst, I'm looking at you, Nick Jonas!)

Aaron Tveit was an amazing Enjolras.

Samantha Barks, I loved her as Eponine in the 25th Anniversary concert, & I loved her here too. The whole time during "On My Own", I was just thanking all that is holy that Taylor Swift didn't get the part.

Now I must address "One Day More". In the months leading up to the movie's release, I first worried that the song would be cut, & then when I learned it would be included, I worried how they'd pull it off. It was perfect. PERFECT! And it brought me back to Rent & made me sad that Columbus didn't even bother to attempt to film "Christmas Bells". With "One Day More", this movie proved that you CAN have musical numbers with more than two locations (since he did include "What You Own" in a movie. "Without Love" from Hairspray proved the same thing but not nearly to the same scale.

One of my least favorite additions was Marius threatening to blow up the barricade during the first attack. Where the hell did that come from?!

It was nice to finally have "A Little Fall Of Rain" actually include rain.

I hated that "Drink With Me" was shortened so badly. "Turning", & "Beggar At The Feast" too, for that matter.

Gavroche's death scene was very hard to watch, especially considering recent events. But on that note, I did like the little touch of cutting to the soldier who shot him with a look of remorse on his face.

Even though I knew ahead of time that "Dog Eats Dog" was completely cut, I was disappointed, I would've loved to hear Sasha Baron Cohen sing it.

As much as I hated Russel Crowe's performance, I was genuinely surprised by how much I liked his take on "Javert's Suicide"

And even though I didn't appreciate "Beggar At The Feast" being cut down, I loved the way it was staged.

And the ending was just beautiful.