I will admit it. It may not be fashionable, but I am a musical theatre buff. In my youth I attended countless stage productions, drinking in the delights of the theatrical experience. A movie can never truly capture the atmosphere of a darkened theatre, the audience sat spell bound as the stage is set on fire (Martin Guerre) or a chandelier comes falling down right above their heads (The Phantom Of The Opera). Yet it is to the second of these musicals on screen adaptation that I must now look.

Let me say from the start that I enjoyed Joel Schumachers movie. There are many who have been critical and it is true that the film is by no means a faithful replica of the stage show. Yet Andrew Lloyd Webbers adaptation is a far cry from the original novel by Gaston Leroux to begin with. Forget the previous film incarnations with the like of Lon Chaney and Claude Rains: Lloyd Webbers Phantom is a far more sympathetic and sexual beast. His tortured soul and haunting voice have entranced countless female theatre-goers.

Gerald Butler does an admirable job of capturing the enigmatic Phantom. Charles Harts lyrics tell a tale of a mans love for a woman, his desire to be close to her through her music and the promotion of her career and the madness that ensues when he realises she is incapable of love ignoring physical defects, when she chooses the safety of a childhood sweetheart. Emmy Rossum plays the youthful love interest Christine, a woman haunted by the death of her father and struggling to cope alone in the world and Patrick Wilson is her ardent suitor, Raoul the Vicomte de Chagny. The supporting cast are excellent, but at the end of the day it is Rossum and Butler that steal the show.

The sets are sumptuous and the costumes magnificent. Yet there are times when the movie appears to be trying to still be a stage show: in the graveyard scene for example a smoke machine is clearly being used for the mist, with no real effort to hide the fact. Such moments jar, but are thankfully few and far between. Jokes, particularly between the two managers have lost some of their humour and there is a far greater reliance on visual humour, such as the addition of a midget. Whats more, for visual effect some movements have been put in that make no sense: why would Raoul be walking through the foyer whilst Christine is still singing on stage?

These are minor inconveniences however. The raw sexuality of Past The Point Of No Return is stronger in the movie and a particular high point for this viewer. The effects are spectacular, the cast strong and the story line as true to Andrew Lloyd Webbers stage production as any fan could hope for. It is a movie worth seeing for any musical lover or just the plain romantic at heart, although I would also advise a visit to the stage show. A movie can never equal the unpredictability and freshness of theatre, although this one definitely comes close!