I first saw Evita on stage locally in my town and I was absolutely blown away. I didn't know musicals could be like that. Absolutely powerful are the words that come to mind when I think of Evita. I was very lucky, because a woman who had actually played Evita on Broadway was doing a production of it in my town and I loved her. Evita is my favorite musical for so many reasons I could write a dissertation on it. But that's not what this is for.One of the main themes of Evita is power in all forms: political power, social power, sexual power. With these themes, you need to have the music and acting to back it up, meaning you need instrumental power, rhetorical power (for the speeches on the balcony), and (most importantly) vocal power.Madonna does not have that vocal power. She does fine, but that's just it. She does fine. The vocal power of the role of Evita isn't just fine. It's jarring, it shakes your very soul (at least for me). Madonna, god she's trying, but she just wasn't the right pick. You need your leading lady to be imposing and her vocals to be incredibly skillful and expert in nature. I kind of have a soft spot for Antonio Banderas because I felt like he brought enough cynicism and biting critique to Ché that it worked even though his voice isn't the best. I'm a firm believe that as long as your acting and character is solid, your singing doesn't have to be the best. I don't really have any strong opinions on Jonathan Pryce as Peròn. He was a bit mediocre but not awful. Like I said, Evita is my favorite musical of all time. Everyone should have some impossible dream (haha Walz for Eva and Ché) and mine is someday playing Eva Perón. I am absolutely obsessed with this musical. This movie just took out so much emotional depth and detail. That's where it's downfall lies.Many will be quite harsh on it because it's pretty much all music (it's an opera, that's to be expected) or because it's boring. And to that I think it comes down to taste. Of course if you don't like musicals or you don't like more historical movies, you're probably not going to like this movie. It's not a complete waste of time. If you have the chance to see Evita on stage I would say definitely go for that over the movie, but if you want to get a bit of a mediocre version, than you can watch it and then listen to the broadway soundtrack and see which one you prefer. Me, I prefer the Broadway revival version with Elena Roger, and Patti LuPone's version is also phenomenal.In short, Evita (1996) simply could have been better.

Evita is a musical from 1996 directed by Alan Parker and based on two things: the life of Argentine First Lady Eva Péron, and the 1978 Broadway musical Evita by Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber. Both the movie and the musical tell the same story: the life of Eva Péron from being a businessman's illegitimate child to being the wife of Juan Péron, the president of Argentina and becoming the most beloved and the most hated woman in the country.Now hearing that story, it might sound like an original screenplay from Hollywood, but I think that the very fact that it's based on a true story is part of the appeal, proving that truly anyone can rise to power, just look at Donald Trump :(The first question of quality for the movie, being a musical is, are the songs any good? And the answer is yes. They are very good. One of the things that strike me about the songs is that whenever the film needs to show a very long span of time, you can show it with a song and a montage, for example Eva's multiple lovers and the political history of Argentina in the 40s. This would be much harder to make compelling and interesting and related to the plot in an ordinary biopic. But Rice or Webber or Parker of whoever realized that they could use the songs to their advantage. So, congratulations!Another important thing about musicals is, can the main actors sing, and the answer is again yes. No matter what you think of Madonna, you have to admit that the can sing. And I want to really show my respect for Madonna, because this wasn't a case of the producers going "We need a star! Get Madonna, because people know her and will help at the box office". It was actually Madonna who was really pushing to get the role, she took vocal lessons, she did research on Evita and Argentina, and I think that demands respect. The rest of her filmography may not be that impressive, but she did very well in her role, and that's all I ask.So we knew that Madonna could sing, but what was really surprising to me was Antonio Banderas as the narrator Che (yes, in the play it was supposed to be Che Guevara, but they changed it for the film). Man, can he sing, and sing well. One thing that I also really liked about Banderas portrayal of Che is that he can be really funny and entertaining as Che. I honestly think that his performance was Oscar worthy.Parker's direction and production was also really impressive, especially because it was a musical made on such a grand scale. You can tell that they spent a lot of money on the production, especially with regards to the extras. This I think is some of the best work from movie extras, it appears as if they actually care about what they're doing and how it's going to look on the big screen.If I could criticize anything, I think it would be with some of the lyrics in the songs that I find questionable. For example, at one point in the song "Peron's Latest Flame" about peoples misgivings of Juan's relationship with Eva, the soldiers sing about officers and sing "as long as they're discreet and keep clear of disease", like what do they mean? Are they talking about syphilis?So besides some lyrics that I was not fond of, the film is overall an entertaining musical with good performances, an impressive big scale and good songs.My final score, 7/10.

I am a person who hates musicales and I was about to leave the movie in the middle of it. That said and my personal bias out of the way, if I critique this movie I have to be fair. As a Musical and for people who like musicals this is a great film, keep in mind that most of the film is Madonna singing and that there is very little dialog, the only place that there was any dialog in the film we all had to clap in the movie theater just because they spoke and not sing. OK OK time for the truth, the movie is well filmed, it has a coherent historical story, and as for Madonna I think it is one of her best acting movies I have ever seen, she should have at least been nominated for her acting in addition to giving the film an Oscar for the music. The songs especially "Don't Cry For Me Argentina" I think we would all agree it is a classic hit, I loved it. A lot of people did object to Madonna representing Evita Peron, in my opinion whether you like Madonna's life style or not you cannot pull it into the movie it is her life. As for the movie she did act very well and sang even better. Looking back at the movie this movie is definitely thumbs up for anyone that likes musicals, and such style of movies. This is not an action movie it is a musical and one of the best musicals, so please love it as a musical and not as any thing else.

Having not watched this movie in its entirety since its premiere in 1996 (and the first film version of a Broadway musical in almost a decade), I was curious to see how it held up. I have seen two stage versions of this since the release of the movie-one a national tour in the mid millennium, and the other a short-lived Broadway revival which suffered from a less than magnetic leading lady. More attention was paid to Ricky Martin in that revival than the Argentine singer and actress who headed the show. The same, I must say, is true with the movie, as Antonio Banderas stands out far more than Madonna who looks the part and sings it magnificently, but lacks the acting chops to make it the role she thought would carry her into film stardom.Not pro or con Madonna, I felt she did deserve her Golden Globe for the part, Best Actress in a Comedy or Musical, but when you consider the dramatic chops of the actresses who did get Oscar nominations, Madonna just didn't hold up in comparison. Then, when paired opposite Banderas as "Che" (who in my opinion seems to be playing some sort of spiritual on- looker, most likely the angel of death) or Jonathan Pryce (so subtle, yet powerful as Juan Peron), the difficulty of her role makes it more clear. She certainly is glamorous in this part, but like other movie stars who took over for the Broadway original, the passion seems to be missing, especially when you consider the power you feel in the original British and Broadway casts with Elaine Page and Patti LuPone."Evita" came out as a movie at an ironic time, being the last year in the life of England's Princess Diana, and the mass hysteria over her death was comparable to what happened with Eva Duarte Peron, the poor illegitimate country girl who became a mediocre radio and film actress, and pretty much slept her way from being a model to actress to the first lady of Argentina who took the people into her heart as much as they took her into theirs. Sinner or saint?, Che asks the audience to decide for themselves, and the answer is a combination of both. Had the film had some dialog for Madonna to recite rather than all music, she might have had the chance to work on her skills and come off as more than a music video star. She is certainly more than tolerable in the part, and deserves kudos for giving it her best shot.Banderas acts with his singing, showing both despair, cynicism and respect for the first lady of Argentina who tried to conquer the hearts of the Europeans as well as her own people, obviously made the attempt to do some good, but showing hints that more was in it for her than for the people she was promoting her foundations for. Madonna does show the regret as her body falls apart and she becomes a bit closer to God in knowing that she is facing her final days. There is also the fact that she took away the song of Peron's mistress ("Another Suitcase in Another Hall") which does seem appropriate for Eva at the time, but gave that character on stage some meaning rather than just showing Eva's viperous social climbing ambitions. The character deserved at least to reprise it more than just the little bit she got to sing.In "Don't Cry For Me, Argentina", there was the bad judgment of having Eva sing while flashbacks of her earlier life occurred, footage we had already seen and didn't need to interrupt the show's eleven o'clock number. If the show needed to use flashbacks (or show footage at the beginning of the film which we would see later as well), it made more sense to do it towards the end. This took away dramatic impact from the show's best song, more a fault of the editors and director than its leading lady, of course.Still, I have to rank this very highly for its technical achievements and for bringing the story to life. There have been much worse movie versions of Broadway musicals (and certainly much worse casting), and this one doesn't hit the mark of missed opportunity, although a stronger leading lady to make the dramatic marks truly hit would have certainly pushed it up to a "10".