Wicked: The Review

Spoiler alert! Read at your own risk!

WARNING: THIS IS ALL MY OPINION, SO YOU DON’T HAVE TO AGREE!

3/5  🧙‍♀️

The movie “Wicked” has some amazing songs, but a predictable plot that unfortunately digresses from the original Broadway play. I loved the singing and the CGI, but the film’s delivery of the story was rather lengthy, and there was only shallow character development. The movie’s tension culminated quite smoothly, but some characters were poorly portrayed. Additionally, some scenes felt unnecessary and could even have been removed. Fortunately, Wicked’s message resonates quite clearly, which is about racial discrimination and helps us reflect on our own prejudices. 

 The backgrounds of the movie are very natural and colorful, as shown in the Emerald City or in the forest at night. Although Wicked has a lot of singing, there is some witty humor that is inserted in certain scenes. As for the singing itself, it is quite strong all throughout the film, but the score does become somewhat repetitive; often, there is simply too much singing and not enough story. Although I acknowledge that it is a musical, I simply believe that this felt excessive and unnecessary. The acting was strong overall: the actors and actresses reflected the characters’ unique personalities very well.

The story itself is quite similar to the Broadway musical. The green-skinned girl, named Elphaba, has magical powers that she can’t control and she gets invited to Shiz University and becomes roommates with Glinda, a beautiful blonde popular girl. While Glinda tries to get Madame Morrible (the headmaster at Shiz) to teach her, Morrible decides to offer an apprenticeship to Elphaba. 

At first, Glinda and Elphaba resent one another, but they eventually grow to become friends. Their goat teacher, Dr. Dillamond, gets taken away by Oz guards for being an animal, since there is discrimination against animals in this fictional world.. Elphaba is distraught, vowing to find the person who did this.

Elphaba gets sent to the Emerald City because of her innate magical abilities, and Glinda follows. They meet the Wizard of Oz, and, at first, they believed that he could read a sacred text (The Grimmerie), an ability upon which his entire rule of the realm depended. However, he can’t actually read this text, turning out to be a fraud. 

Elphaba reads a spell from the Grimmerie that causes the wizard’s monkey guards to spout wings, turning them into the infamous flying monkeys. They hunt Elphaba down after the Wizard of Oz commands his guards to find and kill her, calling her a “wicked witch.” 

Then, Elphaba and Glinda reach the top of a tower, where Elphaba enchants a broomstick and asks Glinda to follow. However, Glinda refuses to put her reputation on the line, so Elphaba flies off, promising to fight the wizard with all her power as the first part ends.

In summary, “Wicked” had the potential to be absolutely golden, but the length and the excess singing bumped it down a few notches for me. However, I still highly recommend it to be watched for all ages, as long as children under 10 have a parent or guardian with them while watching.