Les Miserables Preview

Could this be 2013's surprise hit musical movie?
This year at On-Screeen, we're going to be placing more of a focus on looking ahead to 2013's biggest releases on top of providing you with the definitive verdicts on them when they actually arrive. So, without further ado, today we're kicking off these new previews with an analysis of what we can expect from the big new musical movie Les Miserables.

In each preview, we'll address the basic premise of the narrative without spoiling too much of what you can expect from the new release. It'll be done in the form of a ten-teaser guide to that release- here we go, then, into the world of Victorian London for a truly grand adventure...

1. Les Mis' male headliner is none other than Hugh Jackman, star of the X-Men film franchise and Australia. Jackman plays Jean Valjean, a wrongly convicted criminal who finds salvation in a brief parole given by Russell Crowe's prison guard. From there, Valjean sets about bringing an honest life to himself and gaining a dignified position of power...
2. Meanwhile, we've got The Dark Knight Rises and Alice In Wonderland's Anne Hathaway making a prolonged appearance as Fantine, a woman who works in a factory on low wage, only to be cast out onto the streets without her recently-born child. It's Hathaway who'll provide us with a beautiful new rendition of I Dreamed A Dream, the classic hit from the musical that was recently brought back into the public view by Susan Boyle.
3. Thankfully, Jean eventually comes across Fantine and indeed her lost daughter Cosette. Cosette is played by Amanda Seyfried, an up-and-coming American actress who you may remember from Mamma Mia and Jennifer's Body amongst other big productions. The storyline is Cosette is intrinsic to the play and thus the film, interwoven with the strands of civil war in 1815 France.
4. Before we see mother and daughter reunited, though, expect newcomer child star Isabelle Allen to dazzle, as she brings us a new version of the beautiful Castle On A Cloud. We don't know quite how much screen time Allen gets, but judging by the trailer she'll be a worthy Cosette and a star to watch just as Chloe Grace Moretz was when she debuted in Kick-Ass.
5. Who are Cosette and Fantine's original captors, then? You'll be surprised to hear that they're a wealthy couple played by both Helena Bonham-Carter and Sacha Baron Cohen. Nope, you're not in a Tim Burton film, but these guys are apparently played for jokes to great effect, so look forward to their cameos early on.
6. Once Cosette is free, we can expect a romance to begin forming. You'll no doubt have spied Eddie Redmayne in the trailers, and if you caught the BBC adaptation of Sebastian Faulks' Birdsong last January, you'll know that he's a British force to be reckoned with. Expect sparks to fly, though, as Samantha Barks' Eponine vyes for the young man's attention.
7. The director of the piece is Tom Hooper, a man who's renowned for his work on the Oscar-winning The King's Speech in 2011. Believe us, if you didn't see that British hit of a movie, his direction in filmmaking is absolutely sublime, and you can expect artistic license to be carried out in full here.
8. Do expect one or two big battle scenes, yet on the other hand don't be surprised if the emotional core of the film takes precedence. Les Miserables never was an action production, yet as with so many West End shows, that gave it much of its big strength.
9. A slight warning: at a hefty 158 minutes, nearly as long as both The Dark Knight Rises and The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012's longest movies, 165 and 169 minutes respectively), Les Miserables is no sloucher. Those two filmic greats proved that near three-hour epics can still be done marvellously, but just be prepared that if you hand over your £8 for the ticket, you are most definitely in it for the long haul!
10. All that's really left to say is that short of things going very wrong, Les Miserables should pack some of the greatest musical sequences we've ever seen in a movie. From On My Own to At The End Of The Day, from Who Am I? to Do You Hear The People Sing?, there'll be so much melodic goodness on offer it'll be hard to know where to turn, other than with your eyes glued straight to the big screen...

Les Miserables hits cinemas everywhere on Friday, January 11th.