The Phantom of the Opera

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The Phantom of the Opera

PG-13

2005

2h 21m

Musical

Drama

Romance

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Popcornmeter

32%

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167 Reviews

84%

Popcornmeter

250,000+ Ratings

From his hideout beneath a 19th century Paris opera house, the brooding Phantom (Gerard Butler) schemes to get closer to vocalist Christine Daae (Emmy Rossum). The Phantom, wearing a mask to hide a congenital disfigurement, strong-arms management into giving the budding starlet key roles, but Christine instead falls for arts benefactor Raoul (Patrick Wilson). Terrified at the notion of her absence, the Phantom enacts a plan to keep Christine by his side, while Raoul tries to foil the scheme.

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Critics Consensus

The music of the night has hit something of a sour note: Critics are calling the screen adaptation of Andrew Lloyd Webber's popular musical histrionic, boring, and lacking in both romance and danger. Still, some have praised the film for its sheer spectacle.

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Nick Schager

Lessons of Darkness

Deserves to be locked up in a dank, water-filled dungeon and left to molder.

May 3, 2005

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Andrew Sarris

Observer

My own reaction to the current version fashioned by Mr. Schumacher is one of pure stupefaction.

Jan 27, 2005

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Anthony Lane

The New Yorker

The plot is impressively free of anything that does not smell of unpasteurized melodrama.

Jan 15, 2005

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Trace Thurman

Horror Queers Podcast

It's all bloat and bombast, but Schumacher's too-faithful adaptation of Andrew Lloyd Webber's classic stage musical is still inherently watchable.

Rated: 3/5

Dec 16, 2024

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Joe Lipsett

Horror Queers Podcast

Highly watchable despite the bloated runtime and surprising lack of character development. Driver is a gem as a diva and Rossum makes a strong impression, but Butler's "sexy" Phantom sinks the whole enterprise. Plus: he can't sing!

Rated: 2/5

Dec 11, 2024

Full Review

Richard Propes

TheIndependentCritic.com

As I was sitting in the auditorium alone watching this film, I kept looking around hoping there was a chandelier above me getting ready to plummet to the ground.

Rated: 1.5/4.0

Sep 20, 2020

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Judie H-P

Loved the songs, the amazing voices, and period costumes, and the love story.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

10/23/25

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Quan

Feel so lucky to be able to finally see this on the big screen! Beautiful movie.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

11/29/23

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Joshua J.

One of my favorite musicals the vocals are phenomenal!!!

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

11/07/25

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PERCY B

These movies with huge disparity between the public and critics are very perplexing and usually in these cases you are better going with the public review. This is a perfect case. This was an excellent enjoyable movie especially if you haven't seen a live performance but even great if you've seen in on Broadway and 2 other times like I have. The music is great and so is everyone's performance.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

11/05/25

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Nikki N

This movie perfectly enhances the dreamy and romantic haze of the French Victorian era that takes place in an illustrious opera. The otherworldly and floaty feeling of the film perfectly encaptures Webber’s portrayal of Phantom’s capacity to inflict a spell-like haze of beauty on his audiences. Despite its debut in 2004, its visual design and cinematic representation still holds up against today’s day and age of CGI and AI-generated content. You can really feel the heart and soul that is put in each shot, costume, and number. I saw a review calling this adaptation “too-faithful,” which I find comically ridiculous. It is true that the loyalty this movie shows to Webber’s masterpiece is evident. Any further research into the film shows that Andrew Webber himself cast the show; pretentious critic opinion or otherwise, Butler, Rossum, and Wilson are precisely where they need to be. Gerard’s strong presence as the Phantom has haunted me for decades while Patrick perfectly balances the dark with his gentle and lighthearted appearances. Emmy, despite her young age, delivers such a captivating portrayal of inner conflict and naivety. Future viewers, please note: this film was created for appreciators of art, not those with a nonexistent attention span.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

11/03/25

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Anna W.

Beautiful film! Incredible music!

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

11/02/25

Full Review

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Joel Schumacher

Director

Gerard Butler

The Phantom

Emmy Rossum

Christine

Patrick Wilson

Raoul

Miranda Richardson

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Synopsis

From his hideout beneath a 19th century Paris opera house, the brooding Phantom (Gerard Butler) schemes to get closer to vocalist Christine Daae (Emmy Rossum). The Phantom, wearing a mask to hide a congenital disfigurement, strong-arms management into giving the budding starlet key roles, but Christine instead falls for arts benefactor Raoul (Patrick Wilson). Terrified at the notion of her absence, the Phantom enacts a plan to keep Christine by his side, while Raoul tries to foil the scheme.

Director: Joel Schumacher
Producer: Andrew Lloyd Webber
Screenwriter: Gaston Leroux
Distributor: Warner Bros. Pictures
Production Co: Joel Schumacher Productions
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Musical, Drama, Romance
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Jan 21, 2005, Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Dec 27, 2011
Box Office (Gross USA): $51.2M
Runtime: 2h 21m
Sound Mix: Surround, Dolby SRD, DTS, SDDS
Aspect Ratio: Flat (1.37:1)

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