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Wowed by the movie and dashing Gerard Butler I was skeptical as to how much value a movie rendition of one of my all-time favorite musicals could add. To my utter delight and astonishment, I walked out of the theatre unduly satisfied, rating the movie more highly than the musical. I had the opportunity of seeing "Phantom" on stage three times, once when I was still a poor student and was seated at the upper balcony, and later in life in the most pricey seats located in the Grand Stall and Dress Circle - yet, none of these expensive seats offered the superior vantage points the movie could bring. The experience was synonymous to being given the best seats at any one moment in time in full view of the goings-on (no need for binoculars for a change!), allowing viewers to take in the immediacy of the hustle and bustle, songs and dances, romantic love triangle et al! Obviously, for the truly nitpicking, technicality like the cast's singing was perhaps, for the lack of a better word, "sub-par" to the renown vocal ranges of the original duo (Michael Crawford/Sarah Brightman). But it is unduly unfair to write-off the movie solely on account of this - the acting was moving and the rare occurrence of perfect on-screen chemistry between Emmy Rossum as sweet Christine and Gerard Bulter* as the enigmatic Phantom was a cinematic gem. Viewers are likely to welcome a meatier and more compassionate role donned by Miranda Richardson's Madame Giry, and even the controversial casting of Minnie Driver as bitchy Carlotta - I was puzzled at first given that she was the only thespian in the cast whose singing voice was fully dubbed until the closing credits. However, my doubts were cleared as soon as I saw her show-stealing, self-denigrating performance (and she gave the impression of enjoying every minute of enlivening her limited screen time). Having perused the scope/reality of the movie, it became obvious why Andrew Lloyd Webber decided to make a movie extravaganza of the musical with Joel Schumacher since 1991. It was excellent direction and collaboration at that. The movie was never meant to be an inferior re-make of the musical, but one whose aim was to improve on the stage-play with a more thoroughly fleshed out screenplay amidst the plethora of action, weightier characterization of the supporting roles, not least greater substantiation of the many assumed knowledge unbeknownest to viewers in light of stage limitations, complete with lavish sets, costumes and cinemaphotography to sweep viewers off their feet! The movie worked as a great supplement and a must-see to fans of the musical, not to mention those, like myself, who have not had a chance to read the original novel by Gaston Leroux. The additional developments/tidbits in the movie were already worth the price of the ticket - some 15 minutes of newly-written music backing scenes absent in the musical! I won't be a killjoy by revealing the unnecessary, but here's a teaser: what about how Phantom came to be? I was also impressed by the amount of labor and toil that went into making this movie far more visually gratifying than the musical. Webber/Schumacher & Co even managed to outdo the already vibrant set/costumes' design in the musical's "Masquerade" Act, accomplishing this feat by repackaging the scene in a glittery monochromatic affair, refreshingly adorning the costumes/sets in just black/white/gold/silver, except to single out Christine in her virginal pink outfit and Phantom in his killer red attire! And if the afore-mentioned didn't quite convince you to give the show a chance despite lukewarm reviews from highly paid movie critics, here's one final point to whet your appetite: while the musical never gave any concluding remarks as to what happened to Phantom, Christine and Raoul after they escaped from the underground labybrinth of the Paris Opera House, the movie provided a satisfactory wrap of the following: (i) if Christine & Raoul lived happily ever after and (ii) what became of Phantom - this epilogue alone was good enough justification to watch the movie. *As an aside - I had no idea who Gerard Butler was until his show-stealing performance in "Phantom". Being wowed as I was by his engaging onscreen presence, I did some web search (I'm sure I'm not alone in this pursuit!) and found out the actor played essentially bit parts in a handful of English production before being landed his more substantial film role as Dracula in Wes Craven's "Dracula (2000)". Consequently, I made a point to check out the vampire movie and was pleasantly surprised on the upside - if viewers found Butler sexy and riveting in "Phantom", one would be even more enthralled by the charismatic 6'2" Scotsman sans prosthetics and make-up to look (unfortunately, or rather, FORTUNATELY, not quite) the part of Phantom! He is really that dashing!!! Whether one likes horror movies or Wes Craven's works is besides the point - "Dracula (2000)" is a must-see for fans of Gerry Butler! Simply can't wait for "Phantom"'s DVD release on May 3rd to re-live the gratifying musical/cinematic experience, not least to view the bonus materials on the making-of featurettes and subtitles to the lyrics. 39 days to go and counting....