Wicked is a movie that was not high on my to watch list, as I wasn’t a fan of the Wizard of Oz, yeah I said it, and not a big Ariana Grande fan. Given rave reviews I decided I couldn’t really make my top 10 end of the year list without seeing it. I will say I was pleasantly surprised, as I have never seen a production of of Wicked, and the recent string of Broadway to Cinema releases have been less than stellar over the past number of years, need I remind people of the Cats and Dear Evan Hansen disasters.
The movie centres around Elphaba (Wicked Witch of the West) discovering her abilities and becoming the character we all know from The Wizard of Oz, while making an unlikely friendship with Galinda (Glinda The Good Witch) while attending Shiz University.
The movie is highlighted by Cynthia Erivo’s portrayal of Elphaba, while Ariana’s performance is great as well. The movie makes good work of the musical numbers with “Popular” and “Defying Gravity” being the stand outs of all the songs. Cynthia’s portrayal of Elphaba is one people can identify with, as she different and isn’t one who is able to conform to the status quo, while still truly wanting and yearning for the acceptance of her father, sister and fellow students. Ariana, is well playing a more over the top version of Ariana. Ariana, who is gifted at impressions, I did find myself believing she was doing an impression of Kristin Chenoweth, who was the original Galinda on Broadway, throughout the movie, especially with the singing and her talking being a hybrid of her own voice mixed with some Kristin to match and line up with the singing. She did surprise me, with her dancing and overall performance. The limited time we see the Wizard, portrayed by Jeff Goldblum, it is well done, and I will say pay attention to him for something that will get revealed in part 2 next year.
The movie also featured a cameo of Kristin Chenoweth and Idina Menzel, who were the original Elphaba and Galinda in the Broadway production.
This is Part 1 of two, which is basically Act 1 of the Broadway production ending with “Defying Gravity” and no mid or post credit scenes to help set up the next film.
Final Grade: 8.5/10
Check out the trailer below:
– Everett
