Wicked Movie Review
Nathan Swank
December 6th, 2024
Popular book turned ultra famous Broadway show WICKED has finally become a feature film. Audiences are turning out in waves to help make the film a popular phenomenon. Some audience members, much to the chagrin of other audience members, are even making it a sing-along event and seeing the film multiple times. Here’s my hot take: Not only did I not care for the film, but I consider WICKED to be a poorly developed film that has very little to offer in terms of any kind of quality worth recommending.
Okay, maybe I’m speaking a bit hyperbolic. Or maybe I’m just wanting to start a fight. Please know it always pains me to disagree with the mass public. And while I liked the very ending of the movie, it took way too long to get there. I just hope the second half of the movie is more interesting.
If you are unaware of the story in WICKED (or at least the first half), it’s sort of a backstory about the Wicked Witch of the West, her upbringing and school experience before becoming evil. Apparently she was actually the good guy and Glinda or Galinda the good witch and the rest of Emerald City are actually the bad guys. Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo) is patient and kind, but rejected and despised because of her green skin. Glinda (Ariana Grande) is a popular girl because of her conventional beauty and confident mean girl leadership. Everyone else are basic lackeys who do whatever the popular girl does… until the two become unlikely friends.
I’ve always thought of myself as a bit of a softy when it comes to movies that my kids like. In my experience, when I watch a film with my children for the first time that my kids actively love, my grade skews positive, jumping it a half a star higher than I would without my children. I think this is a good thing that gives me an edge when reviewing more family friendly material. However, WICKED is the exception to the rule. WICKED is the first movie that I have actively hated sitting through while my daughter excitedly sang along through nearly every scene.
Unfortunately, I must now suffer through a constant request of Alexa playing each horrible song daily. As the nails on the chalkboard slowly rip through my eardrums, I can’t help wondering why the rest of the world seems to passionately love this movie. It’s not like I don’t appreciate some of the themes of inclusivity, but it’s so poorly conceived and told. Every single person and creature in WICKED is unique and celebrated for their different looks and abilities, so why is this one super kind and super talented person who happens to be green so ridiculed? I see the similarities of people being marginalized in our own world and WICKED attempting to shine a light on that issue, but I don’t think it is presented in any applicable way for people to realize they are doing it in their own life.
Ariana Grande’s comedic supporting performance as Glinda is wonderfully silly. The final song “Defying Gravity” is powerfully impressive with easily the strongest scene in the film. And the bright, vibrant colors are always a beautiful feature. But outside of those few things, WICKED offers nothing new or creative that hasn’t been done better somewhere else. The most egregious problem is that it is 3 hours long and it’s only the first half! To put it in perspective, this one movie ends at the intermission of the play and is actually the length of the entire play on Broadway. We have to sit through the whole second half still! The music is subpar, the dancing is underwhelming, and the entire story is wildly boring.
I love THE WIZARD OF OZ, so maybe I’m a little hurt that WICKED is changing up some of the truths from what I knew in one of my favorite films growing up. But I think it’s more likely that WICKED is far too simple, utilizing common tropes from much better films and stories before it, receiving far more credit than it deserves. I understand children should not have seen films like CAN’T BUY ME LOVE or FOOTLOOSE to understand the similarities, but I’m having trouble figuring out what everyone else is so excited about. I absolutely believe the Broadway play of WICKED is phenomenal and I hope to see the live show that actually tells the entire story in 3 hours rather than just half of it. I hate hating movies and prefer to simply say, WICKED just isn’t for me. Unfortunately, I think enthusiasm for basic and boring needs more negative attention to demand a higher quality of storytelling for future artistic endeavors. Then again, maybe WICKED just isn’t for me.
[fbcomments]
