Thank you – finally some common sense. I can’t believe how the critics are destroying this show. Having seen the stage production 5 times – I can honestly say this movie is just as good – if not better. In fact the artists were at times better than many that I have seen. I have now seen the movie 4 times and it gets better every single time. I plan on going as many times as possible and I listen to the wonderful music every day!!!!

Thank you again
Megan

> Having just seen the film. . . I'm stunned. I was absolutely floored by
> how amazingly awesome it really was. Hard to believe how critics are
> simply not seeing the beauty of this film. . . then again, it was also
> hard to believe how they saw anything in Matrix Reloaded while the general
> public was at least smart enough to realize what nonsense it was. But,
> that's beside the point. . .

> Being a music major, so I believe I can speak for these things and to
> starter. . . there's no logic in everyone's hatred of Gerard Butler as the
> Phantom. Honestly. . . he's better than Michael Crawford, who's voice
> always struck me as too high. . . almost too "girly." There is
> emotional pain, heartache, rage, passion, and --above all--
> humanity in Butler's voice that Crawford failed to grasp fully. The
> sensualness of Butler's voice lies in its devilish deceitfulness; it
> doesn't need to rest in the way it sounds, but works just fine the way it
> is. It's a solid, solid voice; no, it's not a perfectly-pitched voice, but
> I don't wanna' hear the Phantom singing like some kind of castrated, male
> opera star; he needs to have passion in his voice. . . conviction. I'd say
> he needs all the above qualities even more than he needs to sound
> sensual, which seems to be everyone's primary argument against him. . .
> too bad it's a terribly poor and ridiculous one. But, all in all, Butler's
> voice is stunning and I'm very glad he got to play the role. He did a
> phenomenal job!

> Emmy Rossum's voice is gloriously beautiful and perfectly young. Sarah
> Brightman's original voice, while beautiful, is ultimately too old. Emmy's
> voice fixes this perfectly with its round clarity and poignant glory.
> Patrick Wilson's voice as Raoul is also quite convincing. . . it's
> soft-spoken, gentle, and warm. . . just as it should be. The sharp
> contrast to the Phantom's harshness and anguish.

> So, once again, Clemmy has failed to see the beauty in a score once again
> and completely flabbergasted me by his opinions. I feel sorry for all
> those who fail to hear the beauty in the performances in this version and
> who fail to see the wonder that is the film. This Phantom of the Opera is
> the one I'll grow up on the rest of my life and will be the one people
> will remember (for good) for many years to come.

> Just had to address the falsities of Clemmy's review and let everyone out
> there who has an open mind know that this is a superior recording to that
> of the original and I'm looking forward to watching the film for many
> decades to come.

> Bring on the flames.

> Sayonara!
:) Jockolantern