On Nov. 22, the highly anticipated movie “Wicked” was released in theaters. “Wicked” is the first part of a movie series based off of the 1995 novel by Gregory Margorie. The story follows two witches from “The Wizard of Oz” and gets into the background that made them what they were in Oz.
The movie opened with introducing the main characters at the orientation for Shiz University. Glinda (Ariana Grande) is the first character to be shown. She stuck out like a sore thumb, dressed in all pink while all the other students were in a muted blue uniform.
Next walks up Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo). She was dressed in all black, making her green skin pop, and her attitude was very shy and serious. She was very focused on watching over her handicap sister NessaRose (Marissa Bode). There is a musical number about how different Elphaba is and how she’s not like other girls.
The beginning of the movie doesn’t do a good job of making the movie feel smooth or connected. The break into music happened abruptly and was too soon into the movie. This made the introduction of characters and setting feel rushed and it felt like an ambush of energy.
As the movie progressed, the relationship between Elphaba and Glinda is a rollercoaster of emotions after they became friends at the school dance and the whole school being in awe after Dr. Dillamond (Peter Dinklage) got fired for being an animal professor. I like the contrast between characters and how their personalities blend together, how the two get along as the movie goes on adds to the emotion and overall plot of the story. While the school is in chaos, it is revealed that Elphaba has a gift and special powers, similar to the Wizard. This caused Glinda to be jealous of Elphaba because she had the powers Glinda was trying and failing to learn, but in the end she was happy for her.
When Dr. Dillamond got fired, Elphaba was outraged and thought it wasn’t right. She went to headmaster Madame Morrible (Michelle Yeoh) and she acted very reassuring. The whole thing turns into a huge moment of Elphaba resisting why Dillamond was let go, but after a couple minutes, the topic was dropped. I think the situation of animal professors being let go was there to connect how Elphaba was feeling, lost in a world of “normal” peers, but I think the movie was more confusing with the animal problem then it would be without it.
In the end, the audience is left with a “To Be Continued” but not exactly a cliffhanger. The girls have gone to Oz and met the wizard who turned out to be a liar the whole time. Glinda follows Elphaba as she runs away from the wizard and his soldiers. The girls have the opportunity to run away together but the movie ends with Elphaba riding away and Glinda staying with the Wizard. After this, the screen flashes the words “To Be Continued,” leaving the audience to wonder what happened.
Overall I liked the movie but I think some of the musical parts were cringy and other decisions on the story were kind of confusing. However I really like a lot of the design choices and how they associated color with characters and moods. I would recommend this to someone who is interested in the play or story but it would not be my first pick.