A.O. Scott writes thusly of “Phantom of the Opera”:
Lord Lloyd Webber’s thorough acquaintance with the canon of 18th- and 19th-century classical music is not in doubt, but his attempt to force a marriage between that tradition and modern musical theater represents a victory of pseudo-populist grandiosity over taste – an act of cultural butchery akin to turning an aviary of graceful swans and brilliant peacocks into an order of Chicken McNuggets.
I firmly believe that Joel Schumacher is the worst filmmaker working in Hollywood. And yet. . . and yet. . .I have this strange desire to see this film. Somehow, I want to sit through a 2.5 hour piece of shit.
