A ‘WICKED’ MOVIE REVIEW

During the Thanksgiving weekend, I watched Wicked, and it was a surprisingly good movie. I know this review is being posted late, but I just had to share my opinion with more people. Wicked is a must-watch; if you haven’t gone, watch it. This is the perfect movie to watch with family and friends, a nice break from reality. To be honest I wasn’t planning on watching Wicked, I just assumed it was probably going to be another movie with underwhelming visuals and costumes.  I was wrong. The visuals were bright and colorful, and the costumes were beautiful. I’m still so obsessed with all the outfits Glinda wore in the movie, notably the one she wore in the opening scene—a light pink bubble dress with beaded and crystal embroidery. 

 Wicked the film is an adaptation of the Musical Wicked, which was adapted from the 1995 book Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West written by Gregory Maguire. Maguire’s book is a lot darker than the movie and play and isn’t appropriate for children to read. Since I have already watched the movie Wicked, I’m interested in watching the play on Broadway and reading the book; comparing the three mediums.  

Prior to watching Wicked, I had no idea what the film was about, I knew it took place in the same universe as The Wizard of Oz and I had seen some commercials of the play on the local TV channel. Thus when I watched the movie I was surprised by the talking animals and how they played a key role in the plot. In the Word of Wicked, the animals are slowly losing their rights and the ability to speak. We watch as some characters such as Elphaba speak up against prejudice and other characters choose to remain silent.

Elphaba is able to relate to the animals because of how she’s treated. Her green skin makes her a target and socially isolated. Facing consistent bullying and disdain, despite that Elphaba walks with her head held high, from dancing alone in front of a crowd of students, standing up for others, and treating everyone with kindness and respect. 

This movie had a lot of singing and dancing, more than I had expected. From the opening scene, the halfway point all the way to the closing act. Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Granda were the best part of the movie. The vocals were amazing. They sang all their songs with so much emotion and depth. You could tell that they had fun filming this movie. Some of my favorite musical numbers were “What Is This Feeling,” “Popular,” “The Wizard and I,” and “Defying Gravity.” Dancing also enhanced the movie experience and I loved every moment of it. Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande had perfect performances, and I can’t wait to watch them in part two.

Though this movie was great there were still some flaws. The light at times was extremely bright leading to overexposure. I also wasn’t really a fan of most of the singing and found it underwhelming. 

All in all, Wicked was a great movie and I recommend everyone to watch it in theaters. The movie was a blast and I couldn’t stop talking about it with family and friends.