The time has come for the second installment of Confessions of a Cinephile. This time I will be reviewing “Wicked Part 1.” The 33rd and 34th movie I’ve seen in theaters this year (yes, I saw it twice).
**Warning: spoilers ahead**
This film has been in the works for 12 years, and it does not disappoint. I was concerned that having seen the musical first, I would feel like this version was lacking, but it really does live up to all your expectations and more.
To start, the casting was spot on! There are no characters that I am unhappy with, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see many Oscar nominations in their futures.
The leads Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande stole the show with their talented vocals and acting, Jonathan Bailey as Fiyero was amazing, Jeff Goldblum as THE Wizard of Oz was phenomenal, and Michelle Yeoh as Madame Morrible was unforgettable. They even got Peter Dinklage to voice Dr. Dillamond.
Not to mention that of all the productions of “Wicked” over its 20+ year run, Marissa Bode, the actress for Nessarose, is the first actual wheelchair user, which was a detail I greatly appreciated.
Moving on to set design, I read about how they tried to use minimal computer-generated imagery (CGI), so most of the sets are real! Not only were the sets real, but they were beautiful and intricate. Sets like these are hard to come by nowadays with all the CGI, which does not look as good, no matter how high-quality.
One qualm I have with movie musicals is that people think the actors put in the same amount of effort as live actors when usually this is not the case. Most of the time, movie musicals have the actors record their vocals separately, so they don’t have to dance and sing simultaneously.
Having seen firsthand how hard live actors work in our own Pine View Drama Club productions, this makes me lose some respect for the movie’s actors. So, when I learned that the “Wicked” actors decided to sing live, I was thrilled! It’s still not exactly the same because they can do multiple takes, but I was still very excited.
I almost spontaneously combusted when Kristin Chenoweth and Idina Menzel walked on stage. I was not expecting the cameo at all, but it is what really propelled this movie to be one of my favorites this year. For those who don’t know, Chenoweth and Menzel are the original Broadway actresses for Glinda and Elphaba, respectively. It just really cemented how this movie was made to honor their legacy and not replace them, and I loved every second of it.
There are only a few cons I’d like to point out about this spectacular film.
One of the ways they added to the run time was interrupting the songs with dialogue or short scenes. Most of this time it added meaningful details, but in “Defying Gravity,” it was just too slow, especially if you have listened to the Broadway soundtrack before.
My second reservation is that it is only Part 1. I wasn’t too upset about this because it allowed for much more detail and emotion, like in the Ozdust Ballroom dance between Elphaba and Glinda. However, I have seen the Broadway show before, so it’s not like I have no idea what’s going to happen next.
If that were the case, I would count this as a negative if you haven’t seen the live show before.
Fortunately, I have seen it, so I am eagerly awaiting Part 2 in November of 2025. The rest of you, I wish you luck. And for those who haven’t seen the movie yet, I would definitely recommend checking it out!