For never seeing a POTO play before and not knowing what to expect, I watched the latest version along with sister-in-law and niece, and I have to say, I loved it! We all loved it! It was great!
The music just blows you away. I purchased the special soundtrack and have listened to it over and over again. Again, the music is just awesome! It leaves me breathless. Even if Butler's voice is not as good as the others, you still can feel what he is feeling just by listening to him. Give him some credit, he took voice lessons to get ready for the part. In the movie you see emotions but, better still, you can hear emotion through the soundtrack.
I have read the review and have to disagree with whoever wrote it. True, the phantom's voice was not as good as the other main characters, but, give the poor guy a break. David Hasselhoff, in my opinion, can not sing, but did an okay job with Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. He made us hate and love the characters all at the same time. Butler's singing was better than Hasselholf's and he also made us pity, love and hate the character. Isn't that what acting is suppose to be?
I will restate that I have not seen any other versions of the POTO. I know the remakes of some of my favorite Disney movies have not gone over well with me. Maybe I would feel the same way about the POTO if I had seen the original. But, for this version all I can say is wonderful!