It's finally here, Avengers: Endgame but for theater kids. Despite admittedly being a theater kid back in the day, and loving The Wizard of Oz as much as I do, I've never seen the stage version of Wicked. I really didn't even know much about it other than the basics of the plot and of course "Defying Gravity," so I went in without a clue what to expect and I had a really good time with it.
The film opens essentially with the end of The Wizard of Oz, with the witch dead and Glinda floating down in her bubble to speak to the people. When someone asks if she knew the witch, Glinda sends us through perhaps the longest backstory of all time as we see her and Elphaba become acquainted at school and develop a close friendship. I'm going to leave things there for those who don't know the story well because I actually found this to be an exciting one to watch unfold knowing next to nothing.
I'll start with my issues with the film, starting with some of how it looks. The Wizard of Oz is renowned for its dazzling use of technicolor, and all the marketing for this has highlight the bright greens and pinks of Elphaba and Glinda, but a lot of the colour is just toned down too much. It's still a fairly vibrant film, but basically the whole movie has a slightly gray filter to it that limits how much the colours can pop. Director Jon M. Chu has said this was done to give it more of a realistic feel, but I think that approach kind of misses the point. Oz shouldn't feel real, it should feel bright and almost jarringly colourful, and while we have moments of that there are too many points where the film shoots itself in the leg and rids itself of that vibrancy.
Another problem I had was the length. I know some gripe about it being just a part one, but I did find that the finale made the film feel like a fully realized story even if it isn't the entire picture. My issue is that for much of the runtime it feels like set-up and for a film clocking in at nearly three hours it starts to feel a bit like treading water. I was never bored, but it felt like a first act that went on for far too long before quickly switching gears to its epic finale. A large part of this might just be Chu's pacing, as elements just feel too drawn out, but on the whole I do think this would have been a bit more effective if it was cut down just a bit. It's just part one and is the same length as the musical, and while that isn't necessarily a problem, some parts just feel a bit too drawn out. Those are my two biggest problems, the rest of the film is pretty spectacular, although I really didn't like Bowen Yang in this, just really never liked the energy he brought unfortunately.
The two leads are naturally the shining stars here, and both are just astounding. Cynthia Erivo commands the screen as Elphaba, bringing her natural vocal talents to a big and emotional role that she nails. I was hesitant about Ariana Granda before seeing all the buzz, and I'm glad to report that she's magnificent. Her comedic timing is genuinely perfect, and she plays the cartoonishly sophisticated Glinda with the perfect blend of gravitas and internalized insecurity. She has too many great moments to count, a truly great performance. I also really loved the energy Jonathan Bailey brought as Fiyero. I didn't know anything about the character beforehand but Bailey brings a ridiculous amount of charm and charisma that makes you fall in love with him almost immediately. Michelle Yeoh is probably the other most notable actor, and I'd say she was good but didn't wow me. Jeff Goldblum as the wizard is basically just Jeff Goldblum but in my opinion it works pretty perfectly.
Technically there is so much to love here. The film boasts some of the absolute best costume and production design of the year. Despite some scenes feeling a big CGI heavy, the world feels very well crafted with practical sets and props. The tangibility of a lot of the locations made me appreciate them a lot more, showing that you don't need a gray filter for things to feel real. The costumes are gorgeous pretty much all around, and the witch costume for Elphaba is damn near perfect. The CGI is good for the most part, there are some moments where the artificiality pokes through a bit more than I'd like but there wasn't really anything that took me out of it. I also have to shout out the choreography, as the musical numbers here are to die for.
This is a movie that I think you can pretty easily gauge whether you'll enjoy or not. If you're a fan of the stage version or just musicals in general, or even just a good fantasy movie I can confidently recommend it. If you think it looks annoying, you'll probably find it annoying, although there are still a lot of creative elements to appreciate. I have my slight gripes, but on the whole I was very moved by this, thanks largely to an explosive climax and two marvelous performances at the heart of it. 4/5
Comments
Post a Comment