Few movies evoke emotion and touch audiences the way modern musical movies do. Each time we bring one of these frequently glamorous, often funny, and seldom boring films into our homes, we leave feeling like the characters are part of our family.
But modern musicals don’t just inspire positive feelings. Out of the following films, critics tended to agree on one thing – they left viewers with love-it or hate-it feelings. Very seldom did the audience fall in between these two feelings.
These five modern musicals movies were the catalyst for changing the genre:
“Moulin Rouge!”
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This movie set the stage for musicals entering the turn of the millennium. Released in 2001, this English-Australian movie
followed the love affair of an English poet and a terminally-ill Moulin Rouge dancer, according to MTV.
Producers, cast, and writers were nominated for eight Oscars, and it was the first musical to win the Oscar’s Best Picture in 22 years, the site said.
“Chicago”
One cannot talk about modern musical movies without mentioning “Chicago.” Featuring film veterans and newcomers alike, “Chicago” is a musical-comedy that followed the comedic exploits of a police force investigating a murder, husband and wife cover up, and
a Matron Mama’s women’s prison unit, Rolling Stone reported.
Rolling Stone applauded director Rob Marshall, calling him a Broadway pro and lauding his entry into movies as a success.
“Chicago” raked in the awards at the Oscars, being nominated for 13 awards and winning six. The film also was the
first musical to win Best Picture since “Oliver!” in 1969, the Oscars website said.
“Burlesque”
Spicy, salty, sour, and sweet, “Burlesque” has all the ingredients for a four-star film. And critics agreed. While Rolling Stone called the movie one of the worst that year, the
Chicago Tribune reported it made progress for musical films and shone a new light on modern musical movies.
While using tactics coined by “Chicago”, “Burlesque” stood on its own. It showed how movies can be funny without being overly vulgar. It utilized sex appeal but left out the nasty.
Whether Rolling Stone or Chicago Tribune is right is beside the point; audiences loved the movie, and box office sales show the proof. Upon release, the Tribune said, the film was the third highest grossing movie that week, behind “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2” and “Tangled.” To date,
it has earned more than $90 million in domestic and international sales, Box Office Mojo said.
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“The Phantom of the Opera”
History loves to repeat itself, and, with past success, Andrew Lloyd Webber’s “Phantom of the Opera” showed historical and modern musicals could find a merging point.
While the movie does stand true to its original roots, Joel Schumacher threw in several modern elements. The
Animation World Network attributed the movie’s multi-million dollar success to the computer-generated animation used to bring Webber’s historical romance to life.
Schumacher used computer animation to bring a postcard to life, broke the 40-foot falling chandelier into four segments, and orchestrated a true opera house from a small studio.
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