We’re Off To See The Wizard… Eventually
Since its release, Wicked has been receiving overwhelmingly positive reviews from both critics and audiences. The movie is currently sitting at an extremely healthy 4.1 out of 5 stars on Letterboxd and the general consensus in the online film spaces I like to spend time in is that Wicked is a fun and fabulous movie.
Allow me to present an alternative perspective.
Look, I’m not trying to be a curmudgeon. I like fun things! I like pink and musicals (sometimes) and even prequels. Okay, so, maybe I knew going into Wicked that this probably wasn’t going to be the film for me.
But the nonstop praise the movie was receiving was enough to put me in a cinema seat and give it my undivided attention for… for… TWO HOURS AND FORTY MINUTES?
Oh, for Pete Davidson’s sake…
Popularity Contest
When Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo), a young woman born with green skin and magical powers, finds herself unexpectedly enrolled in Shiz University, she’s forced to contend with an entitled roommate, Galinda (Ariana Grande-Butera) who tries to ruin her life. At the same time, Elphaba practises her magic under the tutelage of Madame Morrible (Michelle Yeoh) so that she might become powerful enough to gain an audience with the Wizard of Oz (Jeff Goldblum) and be granted her heart’s desire.
As you’ve likely heard, Wicked is both a musical, and the first part of a two-part story. I would’ve thought that hiding these facts from audiences by not including either element in the marketing would’ve been a sure way to peeve people who found themselves watching a movie they hadn’t signed up for, but clearly, I was wrong.
I knew about all this going in, but I’m not sure it helped. Regardless, let me start with the positives. ‘Popular’ was the best song of the movie by a wide margin, both in terms of melody and performances. Elphaba and Galinda are polar opposites, visually and personality-wise, and the song makes great use of that contrast. Grande-Butera really comes alive in this song in a way that put a smile on my face and truly impressed on me her abilities as a performer.
She’s Green, Da Ba Dee Da Ba Di
The next best part of the movie is part where everyone shuts up for a few minutes. I know that sounds harsh, but it is a little ironic that perhaps the most impactful moment of character development happens during a ‘stand-off’ between Elphaba and Galinda where both of them work through an interpretive dance in absolute silence. No singing. No score. Just the characters and the audience being given the chance to lean in and interpret what’s happening for themselves.
I guess that brings me to my problem with Wicked and, fine, a lot of musicals: the constant orating about the character’s feelings. I’m sure it’s different on-stage because of the distance between the viewer and the performance, but on the big screen, Wicked feels like a bludgeon.
Nearly every single song being a ‘this is what I’m feeling and why I’m feeling it’ song just becomes grating after a while. In film, it's typically the audience’s job to parse a character’s feelings and motivations. It’s what makes the medium engaging. I know it sounds persnickety, but all the fantastic sets and impressive choreography in the world (both of which Wicked has in spades) can’t make me like a movie with one-dimensional characters who actively resist nuanced interpretation.
Holding Space for Defying Gravity
Wicked isn’t helped in this regard by its gargantuan run time. There is simply not enough plot to justify this length of movie, and the result was me sitting there listing off all of the scenes and songs that could’ve been cut to help the movie feel as energetic and vibrant as its aesthetic.
The movie’s snail-speed pacing only worsens when Jeff Goldblum enters the picture (around two hours in). There’s an absolutely tragic ten or fifteen minutes here where we’re supposed to be wowed by Jeff Goldblum’s offbeat performance and his patented staccato speech pattern, but, man, it was tiresome.
The plot did finally kick into gear for the last twenty minutes, and I enjoyed some of the turns and the song ‘Defying Gravity’, but by then it was too little, too late. Look, I thought Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande-Butera did fine jobs. I liked Peter Dinklage as the voice of a talking goat professor, and honestly liked that whole plotline, wherein the sentient animals of Oz are losing their ability to speak, but it wasn’t close to being the focus of the story.
It was just so bloated. Cut the prince. Cut the sister. Cut the ginger fella. I know lots of people liked this movie. If you liked it, then, good! I’m willing to be an aberration on this one. I've always had a tough time with film musicals, and although I was hoping Wicked might've been an exception for me, this simply was not my tempo.
Thanks for reading my Wicked review. If you liked it, consider checking out my wishlist or buying me a cup of coffee at https://ko-fi.com/kieranobrien or below.
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