The Phantom of the Opera

The long-awaited film version of Andrew Lloyd Webber's smash stage hit, The Phantom of the Opera, is everything fans will expect and more.

The story takes place in 1870, as the company of the Paris Opera House is plagued by mysterious happenings said to be caused by a ghost. Rising star Christine Daae is caught in a love triangle, torn between her romantic childhood crush, the dashing Raoul de Chagny, and her tutor of many years, the reclusive "Angel of Music". But the latter turns out to be the Phantom, whose desperate need to be loved descends into insanity as he first stalks, then kidnaps, his muse.

The screenplay has been modified to include additional dialogue, expanded roles for both Raoul and Madame Giry (it's clear she knows more than she is letting on), and the infamous collapse of the chandelier occurs much later in the story. Further, flashbacks (including scenes when the principal characters were children) explain some of the questions that only readers of Gaston Leroux's 1910 novel knew the answers to.

Any cinematic treatment of a live show should try to outdo its progenitor, and director Joel Schumacher has successfully met the challenge. Every frame is filled with movement and colour which, thankfully, do not suffer from the pervading darkness of Evita. Dream-like sequences accentuate the melancholy mood, and the highly-detailed costumes and sets are exquisite.

The cast of largely unfamiliar faces is headed by Emmy Rossum as Christine. She gives the role a luminous vitality, and has a wonderful octave range; every moment she appears on screen is enchanting. Patrick Wilson is quite impressive as Raoul and is poised for leading-man status. But the true star is Minnie Driver, whose interpretation of the self-centred Diva, Carlotta, is worthy of an Oscar.

Sadly, the lavish production is wasted on the effort of Gerard Butler who, in the title role, is the film's only disappointment. Although his passion for and understanding of the Phantom's sorrow is evident, he seems to have been cast more for his sex appeal than musical talent. His singing lacks power and is better suited to hard rock than opera; dressed in black and white and with an open shirt, he resembles a member of 70's band KISS. As a result, the Phantom is merely the boy from the wrong side of the tracks, as opposed to a tortured composer and svengali. (And when his disfigurement is finally revealed, it is -- oddly -- barely gruesome, looking like nothing more than eczema.)

The biggest mystery in The Phantom of the Opera, then, is not on screen, but why Lloyd Webber is so fond of Butler. Still, it is the best adaptation of a musical in decades. The uninitiated who never saw the original show may find the film somewhat trite, but the tragic tale will put a tear in your eye. Rating: 7 out of 10.