Overall: 4/4
Acting: 4/4
Cinematography: 4/4
Production Design: 4/4
Costume/Makeup: 4/4
Tech: 4/4
Adherence to Source Text: 3.8/4
Music/Score: 4/4
Pacing: 4/4
Script: 3.9/4
I'd been looking forward to this one almost as much as I'd been looking forward to the Hobbit, and I have to say, it did not disappoint.
I wasn't intimately familiar with the show before going to see the movie, only having the general gist (Valjean is running from Javert, adopts Fantine's daughter Cosette, and Cosette falls in love with Marius, a member of the revolutionary Les Amis. At some point, everyone dies.) and a few of the songs ("On My Own," "I Dreamed a Dream," "Empty Chairs at Empty Tables," and "A Little Fall of Rain") when I sat down in the theatre.
Two and a half hours later, I walked out of the theatre distinctly different -- almost renewed, in a sense.
I have never quite experienced a catharsis like this until now; I went in expecting to cry, but that didn't really happen until after the barricade and during the finale. I did a manly Jensen Ackles tear of man-pain and suffering during "Empty Chair and Empty Tables," but most of my sorrow was silent and dry.
The movie itself is absolutely magnificent. From the set design -- they repurposed the Diagon Alley set to fit a narrow Paris street where Les Amis set up their last barricade, which adds a subtle level of nostalgia and familiarity for those viewers who were Harry Potter fans in the past, for example -- and the costumes are absolutely gorgeous.
My favorite aspect of the movie would have to be Les Amis. I've always had a weakness for rebels and revolutionaries, and Aaron Tveit as Enjolras hits every single button I have in that respect. His life and death were fascinating, and I've decided to start reading the Brick (an affectionate nickname for Les Mis the book) just so I can learn more about him. The dynamic between Enjolras and Grantaire, elaborated on in the book and given a few lines in the stage musical, is much subtler in the film, but the way they die together, Enjolras raising his flag one last time, light streaming in from behind him, they look like a pair of avenging angels turned martyrs.
As for the other characters and dynamics, I was also pretty intrigued by Javert's character and development throughout the film. His character arc is a sort of falling-from-grace tragedy, while Valjean's, to contrast, is almost a redemption story. They're traveling in opposite directions the whole way through, and set against each other as they are, it's an incredibly compelling storyline.
The famous Eponine/Marius/Cosette love triangle was appropriately handled, I believe -- 'Ponine doesn't come off as weak, and her love for Marius does become a devotion to the cause he fights for. She becomes his Grantaire, in essence, dying for him and his ideals. She is sacrificed at the barricade so that Marius can go home to Cosette, who for better or worse, he loves more than anything in the world. It's not fair, but she is never made out to be a victim.
On Cosette's part, may I just say that I love her? Amanda Seyfried lends a sharp strength to her physically waifish "lark," and I will never understand why people hate her. It takes a similar strength to help someone in the aftermath of the barricade's trauma as it does to die defending them. Cosette is not and never was weak, just loved. And there's nothing wrong with being loved.
I loved the operatic style of the show, also, the songs all flowing seamlessly into each other. Different themes are woven into the songs -- "On My Own" woven into Valjean's death, for example -- to evoke deeper emotional resonance, and it's quite successful.
My favorite song in the film is without doubt "Empty Chairs at Empty Tables;" seeing the aftermath of the barricade was in ways more painful than watching the battle itself. Marius's pain is palpable, and my only complaint is the use of focus to blur out almost the entirety of the background.
But that focus thing is literally my only complaint about the entire movie, so there's that.
Right now, Les Miserables is most definitely my Best Picture pick here, and an awesome way to start off 2013 in terms of going to see a film in theatres.
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