Reviews & Ratings for
Evita More at IMDbPro »

Filter:

Best Chronological Prolific Authors Loved It Hated It Hide Spoilers:

Page 1 of 19:

[1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11]

Index

181 reviews in total

---

44 out of 55 people found the following review useful:
Wonderful adaptation of the play, 11 December 2004
Author: wnterstar from United States

I liked this movie. I thought it kept it's edge and that was largely because of Madonna. I didn't want to like Madonna in the part...she seemed too flighty, too self-involved. I didn't hold out too much hope for her acting.

She really surprised me. Not only did she do a wonderful job with the script as given, she also went so far as to watch footage of Eva Peron and got the hand gestures and facial expressions down.

I also heard that she is credited in obtaining permission from the Argentine government to film at the Casa Rosada. Eva Peron is STILL considered a saint, and they were worried the movie would show her in a bad light. Madonna proved to them (and then followed through on film) that she was going to give the role dignity...to show Eva Peron in a balanced way as a person with flaws, not an evil woman bent on destroying Argentina.

She actually made the movie for me to the point where I couldn't envision anyone else in the role.

Antonio Banderas was also a bit of a surprise for me. I didn't know anything about him and kinda considered him eye candy instead of a serious actor. I was pleasantly surprised when I found out he can sing as well as act.

Jonathan Price was good at portraying a Juan Peron. He could be gentle and kind to his friends, but also showed no remorse for "removing" anyone who opposes him. I read in another review of this movie that Price wasn't barbaric enough for the part. Juan Peron WAS very charismatic...he had to be, or else he would NEVER had been elected president.

One of the things I liked most about this movie was that all the people in it seemed real. The extras were neither overly good looking or freakishly ugly. They looked like anyone you would see walking down any given street.

The cinematography is splendid, and it's hard to beat the soundtrack.

It's an 8/10 for me.

---

40 out of 51 people found the following review useful:
I loved the movie!, 21 February 2004

Author: blackberrybabe from Moline, Illinois

As a Lloyd Webber fan, I was thrilled to hear 'Evita' being made into a major motion picture. But I had my doubts that Madonna could play Eva Peron. Then I saw the movie and realized Webber's genius in casting her to play the lead. Madonna shines as Evita and proves her vocal talent on 'Don't Cry For Me' and 'Buenos Aires.' Another pleasant surprise was Antonio Banderas playing Che. I had no idea he could sing! And sing he does! He was the showstopper in an excellent role. And Jonathan Pryce...what can I say about the Engineer from 'Miss Saigon'? As Juan Peron, he holds his own against the powerhouse playing his wife. And he has some of the best facial expressions I've ever seen on an actor. 'You Must Love Me,' written specifically for the movie, was the Oscar-winning song for the talented composer; a tribute long overdue, if you ask me. Excellent casting! Excellent effects! Excellent movie!

To quote TIME magazine, "You must see 'Evita.'" Yes, you must. Some of you will love it, some will hate it. But I hope that you all agree that Lloyd Webber is a genius. He is the true star of the film. 10/10

---

33 out of 41 people found the following review useful:
A Great Film, Better With Each Viewing, 12 September 2004

Author: adagio2 from Connecticut, USA

Saw this film just after release in Jan '97. Not much impressed. Wife bought the CD and began playing it on car trips. Music grew on me to the point where I found myself taking spins in the car alone, just to play the CD and totally absorb the experience.

One evening in '99, caught the film on TV and enjoyed a perfect ecstasy in relating the music to the scenes, which I had forgotten. Played the CD less frequently over the next few years. Then, this spring (2004), HBO began showing Evita repeatedly. Watched it night after night, becoming transfixed by the music, the dancing, the cinematography, the nuances of Pryce's portrayal of Peron.

Lately, I've been watching the DVD once a week, using the NEXT button to bypass the violence and the army/high society chants. What comes across is a softer, gentler story of "poor girl makes good, marries famous man." It's a story rich in melody -- the Latin beat of "Buenos Aires", the soft sax of "Another Suitcase" and "I'd be Good For You", the touching strings of "Don't Cry For Me" and "You Must Love Me.". And the film is framed in moody, unforgettable backdrops. To name just one, the all-pervading afternoon sun -- hot on the dusty plain, glowing hazily upon the bustling Buenos Aires streets, aslant along the long corridor and stairs, as Peron carries the dying Evita to her bed, and finally, an eery spotlight upon the draped casket lying in state.

Madonna is superb, both in voice and screen presence. Pryce's performance is a triumph of the actor's craft. Banderos is a perfect Che, although, in my view, he shines as a tertiary star behind Madonna and Pryce.

See Evita, if you haven't already. If you've seen it ten times, see it again. There is still more pleasure to take from this wonderful film with each viewing.

---

39 out of 53 people found the following review useful:
This movie was phenomenal!!!, 14 July 2003

Author: (Para8Dice@aol.com) from Northern VA

I cannot imagine ANYONE seeing this movie and not being completely blown away by it. It is one of the most beautifully done pieces of work I've ever seen. I have never seen anyone act and sing and dance their heart out the way Madonna does in this movie, and she deserved an Oscar as much as anyone EVER has. She portrayed Eva amazingly, and they made her look so much like Evita you buy it's her. Madonna stretches her vocal cords incredibly to sing this part, her voice is as gorgeous and strong as ever in this movie, and she sings it fabulously. She dances...well, like Madonna, with talent and grace and style. She acts it perfectly, every facial expression, every tear, every line. After this movie was made, I didn't hear ANYONE ever say Madonna couldn't act ever again.

Taking the movie from the stage to the screen was hard to do, but the directors and producers succeeded in having it still blow your mind, even on screen. The scenes are dashing, the way all the pieces are put together is genius. You love and hate Evita, you sympathize and despise her. You're fascinated by her though, whatever emotional feelings you may have towards her.

But don't think Evita's the only thing incredible about this film. Who knew Antonio Banderas could sing??? I didn't! He sang great for how hard Che's parts were, and for it being his first time singing. He also acted the part of Che fantastically. His chemistry with Madonna is there and he uses it to the fullest to bring out the magic between Che and Evita. He had an even bigger role to fulfill than Madonna in the transition from stage to film. Madonna is in real life much like Evita so this part was like home for her, but Antonio's stretch to become Che was right on key, and you just love him.

And Jonathan Price! Dear God, he was beautiful too, and did again, genius work. He is a stage actor, so of course he played Juan's intensity just right. All three of these actors deserved AT LEAST Golden Globes, and Madonna deserved an Oscar, along with the director who blew your mind with the movie, making you laugh and cry. This movie is in one word...phenomenal.

---

30 out of 44 people found the following review useful:
Evita Triumphs!!!, 22 December 2004

Author: MisterHollywood from United States

Evita, the long awaited musical is Madonna at the top of her game, and in all her splendor she nails the role of the First Lady of Argentina, Eva Duarte de Peron!!! Madonna's portrayal of Eva Peron not only resurrected the story of Eva's life, but breathed new life into her as well! Madonna finally surpasses the cardboard reading, she's given us in past films, and generously gives of herself to this role, something warm, alive and tangible. Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice's music and lyrics were just that, until Madonna made them her own! Precise enunciation and pitch sent me into the stratosphere, Madonna was no longer a singer, but now an accomplished voice to be reckoned with! The meticulous attention to detail on the sets, costuming, and shooting helped propel the grandeur of the film and it's believability. Madonna finally leaps beyond her persona and truly BECOMES the First Lady of Argentina, Eva Duarte de Peron!!! The Golden Globes took recognition of the hard work put forth by crew, actors and director. "Evita" snagged 'Best Director' for Alan Parker and 'Best Actess in a Musical or Comedy' for Madonna, well deserved! A must see film!!

---

20 out of 27 people found the following review useful:
Beautiful to See and Hear, 19 April 2003

Author: gws-2 from United States

"Evita" is an opera, albeit a rock opera, in the true sense of the word -- there can't be fifty words of spoken dialogue in the entire movie. Music drama is a highly stylized form, which admittedly is not everyone's cup of tea. Perhaps that is why the overall rating given the film by IMDb voters, 6.3 out of 10, is as low as it is. To those of us who like the operatic form, though, this is an outstanding film, beautiful to look at, well acted, and most importantly well sung. The only weakness I found was the one that inheres in every Andrew Lloyd Webber piece: too much recycling of too few musical themes over two-plus hours. Nevertheless, Tim Rice's lyrics are wonderful, they are consistently inventive and drive the story. Madonna was good in the title role but Antonio Banderas's performance as Ché was great, both dramatically and musically. "Evita" is highly recommended, 8 out of 10.

---

20 out of 28 people found the following review useful:
Well made underrated musical, 15 May 2004

Author: Juni78ukr (juni78ukr@yahoo.com) from Odessa, Ukraine

I knew before, that Madonna can sing but now I know what she also can act. Meanwhile, I knew before that Antonio Banderas can act, but now I know what he can sing. And in Evita he sang incredibly good. I agree, Madonna wasn't bad, but Antonio really stole the show. He brings to the movie incredible latin style. Also very good Jonathan Pryse as president Peron. This movie was very well directed and have very good cast. But, best in Evita, of course, are music and songs. With excellent songs and pretty good singing Evita becomes on of the best musical movies ever made. Alan Parker bring out the political climate from that years very well. Maybe whole movie was too political, but now too many time have passed and nobody shouldn't care about that. Best songs for me are Don't cry for me Argentina and nearly all Antonio's songs. In fact, only one minor problem in the movie is that Madonna in the beginning of the movie looks too old.

Worth seeing for any music and movie lover. Sorry for my bad English

8,1 out of 10.

---

26 out of 40 people found the following review useful:
Superb realization of the Broadway musical, 14 August 1998

Author: bilahn from Minneapolis

This was a simply stupendous movie. The visuals and costumes were stunning, the new realization of the musical score excellent. Madonna deserves more credit than she has gotten for this. Although her voice is perhaps a bit thin for the role, she really stretched herself for this, and did a fine job. Banderas was simply fantastic. Most of the naysayers (and there are many), clearly don't care for Weber, or for musicals in general. Of course it isn't "deep", it's a musical! The question is how well was the original play transformed to the screen, and I would be hard pressed to imagine anything more successful than this.

---

17 out of 25 people found the following review useful:
The first great musical movie after nearly 20 years, 19 December 1998

Author: Jonathan Farrugia (jonathan_rob@yahoo.com) from Malta

Excellent Lloyd Webber-Rice musical is finally brought to the silver screen twenty years after the release of its concept album. Being used to watching flashy, colourful musicals, namely from MGM, full of catchy tunes and full of breathtaking dance routines, "Evita" left me quite shocked. It was the first (and last) "political" musical I saw. The music impressed me at once, however the story and the setting did not quite do so at first sight. It was only later, when I read something about the life story of Eva Peron did I really appreciate the excellent work Lloyd Webber and Rice did. Even though they were not 100% faithful to the real story, the bio-musical gave a somewhat clear picture of what type of woman Eva Peron was. The movie was great with its re-enactments of the 1940s-1950s Argentine elections, however, having personally performed in the stage version (playing a descamisado, a waiter, a policeman and one of Eva's lovers), I cannot but point out the several drawbacks it had. It is true that the funeral, the electoral campaign and the terrorism were by far better on screen than on stage, yet the stage musical had a certain charm which was lost in the film. It could be due to the fact that on stage there was some dancing involved while the movie had none; it could be because one was live and one was playback; it could be because some of the harmonies were lost in the movie; it could be simply due to the fact that in one I participated while in the other I was just a spectator. I don't know, still the stage version was more "alive". Nonetheless, in order to be fair, I have to admit that the movie version did have some improvements as regards to the play. The best one of them was the song "You Must Love Me". Apart from finally re-uniting composer and lyricist after more than 10 years of cold war, it presents the First Lady of Argentina as a woman who has some feelings, who is afraid in front of her approaching death, who is not only interested in becoming vice-president, as the stage production tends to hint. How much this is historically true is beyond me, yet it is good to give some human element to the heroine.

I was quite impressed by the actors' interpretations. Madonna has finally showed the world that she is able to look great without taking her clothes off, that she is more than just voice, boobs and scandal. Jonathan Pryce was excellent as the Argentine president - such a pity he had so little to sing, having such a great voice. Antonio Banderas impressed me - I did not know he was that good at singing. The role of the narrator was quite a breakthrough after his ‘tough-guy' parts, and he did it quite well. Some critics said that this movie would set the way for future film versions of musicals - I hope they were right!

---

12 out of 18 people found the following review useful:
Best role for Madonna, 8 August 2005

Author: FilmOtaku (ssampon@hotmail.com) from Milwaukee, WI

I used to think that there were a couple of absolutes in this world other than the standard issue ones. One is that I will always hate Andrew Lloyd Webber and another is that Madonna will never be a good actress. After seeing Alan Parker's 1996 musical "Evita" however, starring Madonna and featuring the music of Andrew Lloyd Webber, I have had to amend those two statements slightly.

"Evita" tells the true story of Eva Peron, the wife of Argentina's former president (and dictator) Juan Peron. In a story that was ready-made for Hollywood, she started out as the illegitimate and poor daughter of a man who dies when she is very young, sleeps with a mediocre nightclub singer at the age of 15 in order to gain passage to Buenos Aires, and from there begins her struggle to reach whatever achievements her ambitions require (which is a lot). Using her body to gain important friends (because, frankly, she didn't have any acting talent) she becomes an actress and radio star before she meets Juan Peron, at the time, an up and coming politician. They get married and the two work to get him elected as the president of Argentina on the platform that "they are workers too". When he is elected, Evita's popularity grows even more, to the point where her dreams of becoming the vice president of the country could be realized, until she is stricken with cancer and dies, essentially with the image of a saint, at the age of 32.

"Evita" is a gorgeous, lush film, full of thousands of extras, great location scenes and features a very talented cast. It acts almost as an incredibly big budgeted and elaborate music video, mainly because it features almost constant singing, and well, it stars one of the most visible music video stars of all time. Madonna finally found her part in this film, and no, it wasn't just easier because she didn't have a lot of speaking lines. It is clear that not only did she take voice lessons (which actually is true) because her voice quality was better than "normal", and has stayed that way since the making of this film, but she was able to knock off some decent dramatic moments. Banderas, though he spent a lot of the film looking pretty furious with the camera, doesn't have to prove any acting mettle (anyone who has seen him in an Almodovar film can attest to this) but did come up with a surprisingly good singing voice. Jonathan Pryce, who was curiously cast as Peron also did a good job, though his part was fairly minor, and even at that he was relegated to giving Evita a lot of loving looks. All in all, however, the slick production, some catchy music (I cannot believe I am actually saying that I actually really like a film featuring the music of the insipid, mainstream, gnome-like Webber) that is good enough to listen to extra-curricularly and performances that weren't bad made for a pretty good and very entertaining viewing.

Don't get me wrong – there are more than a few eye-rolling moments in "Evita", but the good definitely outweighs the bad, exponentially. The story, while coherent, was pretty mediocre, and I found that I felt that there were some things that were glossed over or trivialized with a cute musical number. Admittedly, however, this IS a musical and you don't sign up for a hard-hitting knowledge fest when you watch one. This wasn't the first time I had seen this film, and yet I still end up getting so wrapped up in the action that I end up bawling a couple of times, and this viewing was no exception. More importantly, though, I didn't feel like a doofus when I recommended it as a movie that three guys and I should watch together, because while it's slick and a musical, (and therefore, traditionally, a chick film) there's enough compelling elements to the film that will keep some guys happy as well. Good job, Parker and thanks a lot for blowing two of the absolutes I normally stand by. 6/10 --Shelly

---

---

Page 1 of 19:

[1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11]

Add another review

---

Related Links

Plot summary	Plot synopsis	Amazon.com summary
Ratings	Awards	Newsgroup reviews
External reviews	Parents Guide	Plot keywords
Main details	Your user reviews	Your vote history