GoMovieReviews Rating: ★★★☆ (3.8/5)
Rated: PG
Directed by: Jon M. Chu
Written by: Winnie Holzman
Based on the Musical Wicked, music and lyrics by: Stephen Schwartz,
Book by: Winnie Holzman
From the Novel by: Gregory Maguire
Produced by: Marc Platt, David Stone
Starring: Cynthia Erivo, Ariana Grande, Michelle Yeoh, Jeff Goldblum, Jonathan Bailey, Ethan Slater, Marissa Bode, Bowen Yang, Bronwyn James, Keala Settle and Peter Dinklage.
Cinematic from the beginning, Wicked Part I opens on a black witch’s hat reflected in a pool of water. And of course, flying monkeys, the yellow brick road, then the cry, ‘The Wicked Witch is dead. The Wicked Witch of the West.’
‘Why does wickedness happen?’ one of the townspeople asks.
After telling people, ‘It’s good to see me, isn’t it?’ Galinda/Glinda the Good (Ariana Grande) tells the people, let me tell you the whole story.
The screenplay is written by Winnie Holzman who also wrote the book for the musical; she returns with lyricist Stephen Schwartz to adapt the Gregory Maguire’s reinvented bestseller into a spectacle for the screen. Expectations for this film are high.
However, I admit, I have not seen the stage play. Not really my cup of tea. So you can stop reading the review now or read the review of someone who wouldn’t usually watch a musical but enjoyed this one despite herself.
I just got won over by the characters, Galinda described by Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo) as well, blonde.
And Elphaba green and pretending not to care about the laughter at her expense. That she cares more about the animals that are being silenced and blamed for everything wrong in Oz, then her own lifetime of hurt.
Then the little asides from Galinda about her self-obsession to keep it light as the two who loathed and detested each other become friends.
Rather than feeling like just a musical, the singing was balanced by the storyline and visual effects and attention to detail, the turn of a scrunched page the beginning of the next scene, the floating spinning flowers dusting everyone to sleep, the silhouette of a taloned hand.
The previous collaboration of Schwartz and Holzman pays off because the story and song balance each other so well, ‘Winnie and I tell the story together,” Schwartz says. “Some of it through dialogue, which is Winnie’s department, and some through song, which is mine.’
And the two characters Elphaba and Galinda have a genuine chemistry, ‘We got tattoos together,’ Grande says. ‘I got an ‘E’ for Elphaba in a heart on the back of my leg and she had a little ‘G’ for Glinda on the back of hers.’ Erivo says that their bond is anchored by a sense of joyful exploration. ‘I hope that we don’t lose our love of play,’ Erivo says. ‘That’s something that I really enjoyed—this need to keep wanting to learn and discover. Ariana and I used that to make these beings as humane and full as possible. When we worked together, something special happened.’
Cinematographer Alice Brooks explains Elphaba and Glinda are often shot within a single frame. ‘The 2.40 aspect ratio is frequently beautifully divided in half between these two women.’
Brook goes on to say, ‘Light, to me, embodies everything—it reveals desires and conceals secrets. That’s what captivates me about Wicked so deeply. Early in our preparations, Jon and I delved into themes of good versus evil, light versus darkness. In Wicked, light paradoxically represents darkness, and darkness, light.’
Director, Jon M. Chu, a longtime superfan of the stage production, has embraced all the elements of this film, showing his enthusiasm in the attention to detail that makes Wicked Part I so very watchable.
I’m not saying I absolutely loved the film, but those 2 hours and 41 minutes went by pretty quickly. And I did leave the cinema with a smile humming ‘Defying Gravity.’
Did I just enjoy watching musical?
Yes. Yes, I did.
