Wow, is this movie ever a feast for the eyes?! The set and costuming are just so beautiful! I think people focusing on this aspect will inevitably compare it to last year's Barbie, which did an excellent job with the visuals, but in Wicked, it feels like there's a lot more to see. On top of just being beautiful and visually rich, the creators knew their way around the use of motifs -- visual elements and mannerisms of the players, at least, and these were often delightful. But I also had some issues. I guess I'm considering watching it again soon, so how bad could it be, right? Well...my first experience of the film was pretty seriously harmed by what felt like two big flaws.
The first is that it took me seventy minutes to care, at all, about what was going on. I was sitting there with Cathy, watching this Best Picture nominee, and sort of wishing we could 'nope out' of it. I'm glad we didn't, and this experience is part of what makes me want to watch again...now that I've been hooked, will I be invested from the start upon a second viewing? But I still have to call it a flaw. An hour of being bored is a problem!
The other big flaw is that the audio is muddy. This is a musical! The songs were hard for me to follow and parse. And there was frequently too much going on in the aural sphere -- I could take in one little strain of it while knowing that all the other stuff was passing me by unappreciated. When they broke into song, I generally wished they'd shut up and talk, which is not how I normally respond to musical theater. This might be just me -- Cathy rated the aural artistry much more highly than I did and I have some sensory processing issues. But that's how it was for me and I can only relate my own experiences.
The acting was great, particularly by the two young witches, and only one casting decision seemed weird. I've read the novel, but it was several years ago and I don't remember it well enough to call out inaccuracies. My sense is that it was much more nuanced -- but how could it not be? So I'm not willing to call that a fault of the film.
Cathy's Review:
Before watching this movie, my only experience with the Land of Oz was seeing the 1939 movie when I was a kid, and playing in the pit orchestra for the stage version when I was a young adult (I got thoroughly sick of "Somewhere Over the Rainbow"). The only thing I knew about Wicked was that like Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, two minor characters in an older story become the main characters in another, filling in the backstory of the witches in L. Frank Baum's 125-year-old story.
The movie is visually gorgeous and imaginative (very much in the vein of last year's Poor Things and Barbie) and the special effects, makeup, sets, and costumes do a lovely job supporting the world of the movie. The songs were nice enough, and there were plenty of wonderful moments (I loved how Galinda taught Elphaba to toss her hair, and later you see her practicing). But, lovely visuals and wonderful moments don't guarantee a good movie, and this one felt bloated and disconnected. Worst of all, it failed to make me care what happened to the characters. And because I didn't care, I was bored. And 2:40 is a long time to be disinterested.
While the acting was excellent -- I have no complaints there -- they hired 3 actors in their 30s to play teenage characters (the movie mostly takes place at a university (though it feels more like a high school). Except for Ariana Grande (who at 31 looks to be in her mid-20s) I would have guessed the other two were 10 years older (and in fact, Cynthia Erivo is 38 and Jonathan Bailey is 37).
It's also hard to like a movie where nearly every character is an asshole (and that includes most of the main characters). The adults abuse and neglect Elphaba because of her green skin, the children bully her, the teachers mistreat her, and the wizard wants to exploit her. There are a few decent folks, but they are just tokens.
Glinda (or Galinda) the not-so-good witch is just incredibly unlikable through most of the movie. When a story uses a mean girl as a protagonist, it really needs to reveal her vulnerability and make us like her despite her petty behavior. It has to show us that she isn't as shallow as she appears. Glinda's shallowness eventually evolves from snarky to quirky, but it happens so late in the movie that I never connected with her.
As for Prince Fiyero, he serves as a homecoming king of sorts, but in the end, there's little difference between someone who is shallow and one who only pretends to be, and who cares if a character is insightful if they just immediately fall in with the mean girl?
I liked Elphaba better than anyone else; it's easier to identify with the interesting and talented-though-misunderstood character than anyone else. But she is (understandably) prickly and often just seems along for the unpleasant ride. She eventually takes charge of things, but again ... too late for me to feel part of her story.
But ... In a world of magic, with flying monkeys and talking goats, why does everyone look askance at Elphaba's green skin? Particularly when she lives in a world with an Emerald City, where everything is green and represents all that's good?
(Pithy Reviews; and Ranking of 10 out of 10 nominees):
The Substance (Beautiful horror movie ruined by ending; Cathy: 1, Chris: 1)
Unwatched -Anora(NYC sex worker marries a Russian oligarch) Next Up.
Unwatched - The Brutalist (Jewish architect rebuilds his life in America after the Holocaust)
Unwatched - A Complete Unknown (A biopic about the early days of Bob Dylan's career)
Unwatched - Conclave (Conspiracy thriller while picking a new pope)
Rewatching - Dune: Part Two (House Atreides kicks House Harkonnen off Arrakis)
Unwatched - Emilia Pérez(Conspiracy to help a transgender mob boss disappear)
Unwatched - I'm Still Here/Ainda Estou Aqui (A Brazilian politician's wife makes a new life after her husband is disappeared in 1971)
Unwatched - Nickel Boys (1960s-era reform school survival story)
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