150 Word Review: 'Wicked: Part One' (2024)
We're off...
There's lots of dancing—the choreography is inventive!—in Wicked, director Jon Chu's lavish adaptation of the Tony-award-winning Broadway smash based on the bestseller by Gregory Maguire. Big, fancy sets, too. Then there's Cynthia Erivo as Elphaba, the super-powered, green-skinned misfit. She is vulnerable and stubborn, with a bright voice as big as the sky. Ariana Grande is hilarious as Glinda, an ambitious, blonde semi-mean girl.
It shocks me how much Harry Potter owes to Wicked: wizards, revisionist myths, boarding schools. But Rowling stole none of the book's weirdness, politics, or sexuality. Pity. At least in the movie, Maguire's message endures: don't trust the man behind the curtain.
Wicked works best when the camera sits like an audience and smiles. It is weakest when it forgets it's a musical and tries to deliver a big-budget blockbuster. The showstopping number 'Defying Gravity' is constantly interrupted by CGI action. Let them sing!
New 150 Word Review: ‘Gladiator II’ (2024)
‘Tis The Season To Support Local Bookstores
Grief. Friendship. Jazz hands. My funny/sad memoir Theatre Kids is the perfect holiday gift for recovering thespians with bad attitudes.
New 150 Word Review: ‘La Chimera’ (2024)
Essays: 5 Movie Musicals, From Best To Best
New 150 Word Review: ‘Here’ (2024)
Joh, I'm dying to read your book! But I need it as an eBook. Will you release an electronic version anytime soon?
Agree on the CGI point! I had read that Cynthia Erivo did her own stunts for the Defying Gravity scene but I was so distracted by the CGI.