- S: To the critical eye, the film and musical fail to explain large swaths of the universe. Why doesn't anyone else do magic in the film? There's a whole school for magic and no-one
is doing it? Why is Elphaba's outfit seen as weird when there are frankly some stranger outfits, even some all black, in the crowd. When the wizard's inability is discovered, the first question to
come to mind is how has this ruse not been discovered before in this universe?
- C: The most noticeable thing is that this film should be full of color but is very white-washed. There is a moment where the filters/lighting change to enhance the colors of Galinda's very pink room and
outfits, and it pops off the screen in an almost jarring way. In my opinion, the whole film should have been like this. The costuming is extreme in just the right way, the hairstyling is very good and plays a role in the film's narrative,
but the makeup and colors get lost in the bad lighting. Its a shame this film isn't like a Pop-art, color-blasted, collage throughout. Also, the story-telling around shadows doesn't really work in the film form as I imagine it does in musical form.
- E: The film is way too long. It's already almost three hours long and they had to break it into two parts? The original musical is only roughly three hours long. Although, after all the dragging, the musical performances are impressive and the finale of the film is very good.
- N: The story from a distance is a classic Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer story of the brilliant misfit, but the details of the story drag it down. Elphaba's sister is a primary issue, as
Elphaba's role in the school is originally tied to her care for her sister, but then the sister vanishes from the film other than for a few sparse minutes on screen.
The bit about the animals isn't very well communicated, as it's supposedly very important according to the main character but is very-unimportant throughout the film as it's left in the background
for the large majority. Additionally, the chicanery around the handsome prince feels unnecessary and makes this very long movie even longer.
- T: The film received four bonus points: one for great costuming, one for Ariana Grande's great musical and theatrical performance, and one for Cynthia Ervo's excellent
musical and theatrical performance, and one for a very energetic finale.
The main reason this movie, and why most musicals transformed into movies don't work, is that they lose the brilliance of the live performance in exchange for what? More elaborate sets?
CGI? More polished performances? The film adaptation has to add something that the musical can't achieve, and Wicked failed to do that.
The live elements of the musical performances is one of the primary drivers for a musical's quality. To lose that in the film form, something brilliant has to be gained for it to be a worthwhile trade.
Number of Watches: 1
