{"id":8992,"date":"2024-11-24T10:26:28","date_gmt":"2024-11-24T15:26:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/?p=8992"},"modified":"2024-12-28T22:27:55","modified_gmt":"2024-12-29T03:27:55","slug":"wicked-part-i","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/2024\/11\/24\/wicked-part-i\/","title":{"rendered":"Wicked: Part I"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Wicked: Part I<\/strong> (2024)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Universal\/Musical-Fantasy\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 RT: 160 minutes\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Rated PG (some scary action, thematic material, brief suggestive material)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Director: Jon M. Chu\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Screenplay: Winnie Holzman and Dana Fox\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Music: John Powell and Stephen Schwartz\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cinematography: Alice Brooks\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Release date: November 21, 2024 (US)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cast: Cynthia Erivo, Ariana Grande, Jonathan Bailey, Michelle Yeoh, Jeff Goldblum, Ethan Slater, Marissa Bode, Peter Dinklage, Bowen Yang, Bronwyn James, Keala Settle, Andy Nyman, Courtney-Mae Briggs.<\/p>\n

Rating<\/strong>: ***<\/p>\n

The Broadway sensation Wicked<\/strong> finally makes the leap to the big screen in this playful adaptation from director Jon M. Chu (In the Heights). As I\u2019m sure you already know, it\u2019s only the first act of the Tony-winning stage musical (hence the on-screen title Wicked: Part I). The second part is due in cinemas next November. That is, if it doesn\u2019t get delayed for some reason.<\/p>\n

It will come as no surprise to anybody who knows me that I didn\u2019t see the play. I don\u2019t get to the theater as much as I should. Blame it on parents who didn\u2019t concern themselves with my artistic development. On the other hand, maybe it\u2019s a good thing I didn\u2019t see the original show. I\u2019d probably be sitting there drawing comparisons instead of paying attention to the film. I\u2019m sure I\u2019ll be hearing how the movie measures up to the play from my theater-loving friends in the days to come. As of this writing, I haven\u2019t heard anything negative.<\/p>\n

Me, I like Wicked<\/strong>. It\u2019s an enjoyable take on a story that has delighted and frightened generations of kids. Adapted from the 1995 Gregory Maguire novel, it\u2019s actually a prequel to The Wizard of Oz. It tells the backstory of The Wicked Witch of the West and how she became the most feared villain in the land of Oz.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not easy being green. Elphaba Thropp (Erivo, Harriet) can tell you that. She was born with green skin. All her life, she\u2019s been rejected. Even her own father (Nyman, Judy) doesn\u2019t like her. She gets a chance at a fresh start when she\u2019s invited to attend Shiz University alongside her paraplegic sister Nessarose (Bode). She\u2019s assigned to share a room with shallow, spoiled Galinda Upland (pop singer Grande), the resident mean girl who resents the intrusion. She, along with the rest of the student body, makes sure Elphaba knows she doesn\u2019t belong.<\/p>\n

Not everybody resents Elphaba\u2019s presence. Dean of Sorcery Madame Morrible (Yeoh, Everything Everywhere All at Once) takes her under her wing and tutors her privately. This makes Galinda extremely jealous; she\u2019s not used to not getting her way. There\u2019s also a guy between them, Prince Fiyero (Bailey, Bridgerton). He\u2019s intrigued by Elphaba, but Galinda has her sights set on him. Eventually, the two girls become friends.<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t think I have to tell you too much about Wicked<\/strong>. A lot of people saw the play and loved it. They know the story and songs by heart. AMC (the theater chain) had the foresight to create a cheeky PSA ad warning audiences not to sing during the movie. Good on them! I paid to hear Erivo and Grande sing, not a bunch of overgrown theater camp kids.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m always cautiously optimistic when it comes to film adaptations of hit Broadway shows. I\u2019ve seen some good ones (Dreamgirls, Little Shop of Horrors) and some terrible ones (Cats, The Wiz). There are a few I personally enjoyed like A Chorus Line and The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas. The point is I go in hoping for the best, but steeling myself for a disaster. Thankfully, Wicked<\/strong> is one of the good ones. It\u2019s a colorful, entertaining musical-fantasy with a bright color palette and great singing from its two leads. I\u2019ll grant that some of the CGI is iffy and the storyline is disjointed, especially when it comes to the subplot about the civil rights of talking animals in Oz. There are those who would prefer them not to speak and will go to awful lengths to achieve this end. Of course, Elphaba is pro-animal. It\u2019s the only time Wicked<\/strong> doesn\u2019t soar.<\/p>\n

I absolutely loved Erivo and Grande as Elphaba and Galinda who changes her name to Glinda in solidarity of the goat professor (voiced by Elf\u2019s angry elf Dinklage) fired because of the discriminatory new laws regarding talking animals. They both have amazing singing voices. I\u2019m not familiar with the play\u2019s songbook, but I particularly enjoyed \u201cThe Wizard and I\u201d (Erivo), \u201cPopular\u201d (Grande) and the visually impressive \u201cDancing Through Life\u201d in the school library. Of course, who doesn\u2019t love the \u201cDefying Gravity\u201d finale?<\/p>\n

Not only is the actresses\u2019 singing on point, their performances are fantastic. Erivo elicits sympathy for a character traditionally seen as scary while Grande perfectly embodies the perceived perfection of the snobby popular girl. Yeoh is terrific as Morrible as is Jeff Goldblum (The Fly) as the Wizard, the biggest con artist in Oz. Bode, disabled in real life, makes an astonishingly wonderful debut as the little sister embarrassed by her older sibling. SNL\u2019s Bowen Yang is humorously snarky as one of Glinda\u2019s sycophants.<\/p>\n

Some will no doubt be put off by the film\u2019s running time, 160 minutes. It made me wonder how long the stage show is. It turns out it\u2019s 2 hours and 45 minutes including the 15-minute intermission between acts. They added a lot to the movie apparently. The funny thing is Wicked<\/strong> doesn\u2019t actually feel overlong. Sure, it drags a little here and there, but it\u2019s never not in motion. There\u2019s always something cool to look at. The bottom line is I like Wicked<\/strong> the movie. It\u2019s good and I have no doubt it will be a hit. I\u2019m really looking forward to seeing Act II next year.\"\"<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Wicked: Part I (2024)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Universal\/Musical-Fantasy\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 RT: 160 minutes\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Rated PG (some scary action, thematic material, brief suggestive material)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Director: Jon M. Chu\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Screenplay: Winnie Holzman and Dana Fox\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Music: John Powell and Stephen Schwartz\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cinematography: Alice Brooks\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Release date: November 21, 2024 (US)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cast: Cynthia Erivo, Ariana Grande, Jonathan Bailey, Michelle Yeoh, Jeff Goldblum, Ethan […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":9020,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8992","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-musical"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/Wicked-PIC.jpg?fit=620%2C348&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8992","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8992"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8992\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10506,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8992\/revisions\/10506"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9020"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8992"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8992"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8992"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}