Six months after Wicked released with a bang in theaters, I finally watched it this past weekend. I’ve been dragging my feet a bit due to the length (nearly 3 hours), the musical nature of it, and my worry that I knew the entire story from the trailer. However…
I liked it! It’s visually lush and beautiful, the music is great (as are the musicians), and the story itself is a neat twist on the villain origin story (it makes you question if they’re actually the villain, as the best versions of these stories do).
I was worried that all the story would be was a story about a popular girl being mean to an unpopular girl until the popular girl decided to instead befriend the unpopular girl (at which point she would become more popular). As it turns out, that’s exactly what the story is, but it kind of works anyway because it seems like audience is never meant to view Galinda as a hero (while still allowing for some meaningful and moving character moments when Galinda dances with Elphaba).
Speaking of dancing, I was really impressed by the dancing skills of the lead actors. I feel like that’s hit or miss in film adaptations of musicals, often resulting in the backup dancers and quick cuts distracting from basic choreography reserved for the leads. But there are longer shots of Grande, Erivo, and Bailey all dancing their hearts out–I was quite impressed.
There was also a subplot involving talking animals that I didn’t expect, adding a bit to the worldbuilding and overarching mystery. And while most of the songs probably won’t stick with me, I now understand why Defying Gravity is so acclaimed–it’s a great number.
What did you think of the film version of Wicked?
I have seen the stage version 4 times so obviously I love this show. I also loved the movie. I was impressed with the leads and many of the supporting roles also. I bought the DVD, and have watched it again.