The Phantom of the Opera (2004) Critic Reviews

The real problem with "Phantom" is the problem with Andrew Lloyd Webber musicals in general. It's a slow-moving orgy of lowbrow grandiosity that's as tedious as it is overblown and pretentious.Read the full review

Scotsman Gerard Butler does a fine job as the charismatic, ghostly character.Read the full review

Lord Lloyd Webber's thorough acquaintance with the canon of 18th- and 19th-century classical music is not in doubt, but his attempt to force a marriage between that tradition and modern musical theater represents a victory of pseudo-populist grandiosity over taste - an act of cultural butchery akin to turning an aviary of graceful swans and brilliant peacocks into an order of Chicken McNuggets.Read the full review

Made for the most excruciating two-and-a-half hours I've ever spent in a theater.Read the full review

Sumptuous pic version, which evokes the original show while working as a movie in its own right, is lit by a radiant, vocally lustrous perf by teenaged Emmy Rossum.Read the full review

Isn't just for music fans. It's more accessible than that, thanks to Joel Schumacher's bright direction and a few storytelling embellishments.Read the full review

Ultimately, however, appreciation of The Phantom of the Opera will hinge upon your opinion of Lloyd Webber's skills as a composer.Read the full review

An experience best likened to being battered by hurricane-force winds generated by an organ with all stops pulled permanently out.Read the full review

What the film most damagingly lacks though is a sense of mystery and danger.Read the full review