The Phantom of the Opera is a stage musical that ascends all expectations and scopes, being one of the greatest musicals of all time; a sweeping spectacle of music and colour that has enchanted audiences for nearly 40 years.

This movie is not it. I mean, the music is the same, the themes are the same, but the movie feels like the pop Disney cover during the credits… but it’s the whole film.

Firstly, the pros. The costuming and set design were solid, given the grandeur of the source material. Even though it didn’t make logical sense at times (lit candles coming up through the water?) some of the spectacle lends itself to a dream state that I take as canon. The movie was made in 2003, giving it a very a post-Titanic, post-Peter Jackson vibe that gives it an earnest quality, even if it comes off as super camp toward the end.

Something I noticed is that the film rides the line of pre-Game of thrones “sexy but not graphic” that more movies had back in the 90s and 00s. The story is full of suggestion portrayed by an attractive cast that probably wouldn’t get green-lit today.

The unfortunate part is that the singing is decidedly B-grade. That might sound a little unfair, but the cast really would be better suited to singing on So Fresh 2004; their voices had more of a pop quality. Phantom requires drama and powerful voices, and this cast unfortunately didn’t cut it. I just don’t buy Gerard Butler as the Phantom; he really broaches Russel Crowe as Javert territory.

While this movie is definitely camp (in a good way), it feels like it should’ve waited for Baz Luhrmann to make it, because his perfection of camp would send this very average movie to the stratosphere.