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00:00Wicked has finally made its way to the big screen after decades of dazzling audiences on stage.
00:05When the adaptation was initially announced, fans were concerned that it could never live up to
00:10their beloved musical, and then behind-the-scenes drama threatened to totally overshadow the film
00:15itself. But now, it's finally here. So, is it wickedly good, or woefully bad? Let's take a
00:22look at the winding road to Wicked, what parts of the film worked, and which parts didn't,
00:26and look ahead to what we can expect from part two.
00:30Wicked the stage musical has become a cultural phenomenon in its own right, becoming a pretty
00:34instant fan-favorite after it premiered in 2003, and has gone on to be the second-highest-grossing
00:39Broadway show of all time. This, on its own, would have made a film adaptation of the property
00:44unavoidable. But, of course, this story has its own long connection to the movies.
00:49Wicked the musical is based very loosely on Gregory Maguire's 1995 novel, Wicked, The Life and Times of
00:55the Wicked Witch of the West, which was a more three-dimensional look at the life of the titular
01:00Wicked Witch of the West, who became an iconic figure in the public consciousness with her brief,
01:05villainous appearance in the 1939 classic, The Wizard of Oz.
01:09I'll get you, my pretty, and your little dog, too.
01:12Which was itself based off of Frank L. Baum's 1900 children's novel, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.
01:18I've never heard of a beautiful witch before. Only bad witches are ugly.
01:23While the 1939 film has been cemented in most audiences' minds as the adaptation of the story,
01:28as we discussed in our video on that movie's history, it wasn't the first time this story was put to screen,
01:33and certainly not the last. Because Dorothy's hero's journey was so touching and unforgettable,
01:38it's been retold countless times in the near century since it blazed into theaters.
01:43Taking that well-known story and using it to explore themes of belonging and finding one's true self
01:47is a long-standing part of its history. One of the most iconic retellings is 1978's The Wiz,
01:53which, like both Wicked and The Wizard of Oz, first appeared on Broadway.
01:57In this adaptation, Dorothy isn't a pigtailed little girl from Kansas, but a young schoolteacher from Harlem,
02:02played by the legendary Diana Ross.
02:05There's a whole world out there, and you'll have to begin by letting people see who you really are.
02:12This version took the original story's themes of being an outcast in a confusing world,
02:17and applied it more directly to real-world issues faced by people ostracized in society.
02:22In this case, Dorothy struggles as a young black woman.
02:24Home is knowing. Knowing your mind. Knowing your heart. Knowing your courage.
02:32If we know ourselves, we're always home.
02:37Wicked the Book decided to take a look at the story's themes of alienation and coming to find confidence in oneself
02:42from a different perspective, from that of the story's villain, here named Elphaba.
02:47The book, as its title suggests, is specifically about her,
02:50the girl who would go on to become the Wicked Witch of the West,
02:54the motivations behind her choices, and how she was shaped by and used by a cruel world.
02:59The book is quite political, more interested in Elphaba's activism and attempts to combat the oppression she sees in the world.
03:06Some of this made it into the book's stage adaptation, but with most of the sharper edges sanded way down.
03:13The focus was also shifted to be more about Elphaba and Glinda turned Glinda,
03:17with Glinda's role being magnified significantly,
03:21and the political theme sidelined in favor of a story about friendship.
03:25Interestingly, part of this shift also comes from the framing of the telling of the story.
03:29While the book is from Elphaba's point of view, the musical is from Glinda's,
03:33opening with her coming down to recount the story,
03:36and that is indeed the main theme of the book and the musical,
03:39how one's image and work can be twisted by others to support their own propaganda and aims.
03:45There have been talks about adapting the musical for the screen pretty much since it hit it big on Broadway,
03:49with a few different versions being whispered about, but never coming to fruition.
03:54Then, in 2022, it finally happened.
03:57A real announcement about a film adaptation that was actually happening.
04:01The earliest teaser images released were disappointing, to say the least.
04:06And then, the behind-the-scenes drama revolving around Ariana Grande and Ethan Slater's dubious relationship timeline
04:11overtook pretty much all discussion of the film for a time.
04:14But now, it's finally here for us to judge for ourselves.
04:17So, how is it?
04:19Let's start with the good things, of which thankfully there are many.
04:23To no one's surprise, both Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande give wonderful performances.
04:28Cynthia, of course, has her big, beautiful Broadway-ready voice to bring the songs to life,
04:32but is also able to use the close-up nature of film to bring a new level of gravitas and depth to the story's quieter moments.
04:39Though the film doesn't dig into Elphaba's motivations and many of the darker elements of the world to the degree that the book does,
04:45Cynthia is able to bring that depth in through her performance.
04:50We can feel that there's so much more that Elphaba is dealing with and thinking about under the surface,
04:55which should hopefully be explored more acutely in Part 2.
04:59Ariana brings her pipes and pop star sensibilities to her role,
05:02and importantly gets to make great use of her comedic chops with Glinda's goofier side.
05:07She and the film really lean into Glinda's vanity, air-headedness, and willingness to do anything to be
05:12which could feel a bit much when we're only seeing half the story,
05:17but in fact works well to set up the choices she'll make in the coming Part 2.
05:21The supporting cast all bring their own charm to the film,
05:25particularly Michelle Yeoh as Madame Morrible and Jonathan Bailey as Fierro.
05:29While, given the original teaser images and first trailer,
05:32many were concerned that there would be a stark lack of color in this version of Oz.
05:37Thankfully, in the end, it is filled with vibrant brightness,
05:40while also being willing to tread into the darkness too.
05:43It's not perfect, of course.
05:44There are moments that lean a bit far into CGI Uncanny Valley,
05:49and sometimes where the vibrancy is pulled back in a way that feels deliberate but out of place,
05:54an attempt to tone down some aspects to make others pop more,
05:57but that just serves to add a flatness to parts of the film instead of making a real impact.
06:02But while it's impossible to compete with the iconic Technicolor dreamscape of the 1939 film,
06:08director John M. Chu and the creative team did their best to create something that's dazzling in its own right.
06:13Real, functional sets make the settings feel genuine,
06:16while also adding to their fantastical nature,
06:18instead of feeling like flat and lifeless 2D green screen backgrounds.
06:22Sometimes it can feel like there's almost too much going on,
06:25but this could have been an attempt to dazzle an audience no longer amazed
06:29just by the spectacle of color, sparkle alone.
06:32Because the book and musical are so different in tone,
06:35it would have been a tall order to try to combine them both seamlessly for the film adaptation.
06:40And since the musical is the version as far as most fans are concerned,
06:44following the book over the musical would have likely led to a lot of unhappy campers.
06:48But in the end,
06:49the team did do a good job of keeping to the important themes of both,
06:52while staying true to the positive power of friendship at the heart of the musical.
06:56It also does well with the idea of how others who care for you,
06:59believing in you,
07:00can help you find your own self-worth,
07:02even if you don't always see eye to eye,
07:04because they can see parts of you that no one else can.
07:08While so much of the film is great,
07:10of course,
07:10it's not without its pitfalls.
07:12On stage,
07:13plot holes and things of that nature don't matter as much,
07:16because any confusion or questions can be laid aside in favor of just enjoying the razzle-dazzle
07:21and the great music.
07:22The film, however,
07:23in its attempt to fit back in some of the plot from the book,
07:26does start to feel overburdened at times,
07:28with so many characters and themes and such to keep up with,
07:31which means that none of them individually really get explored with the depth they deserve
07:35or that would make them truly interesting.
07:38It might at first be surprising that any threads in the film could possibly feel
07:42a little thin,
07:42giving that its runtime is bloated up to 2 hours and 40 minutes for just this first half,
07:47which is nearly the same runtime for the entire musical.
07:51But in those additions are some attempts to put back in the seeds of some of those deeper themes from the book,
07:56like the full breadth of the political subjugation and ostracization of the animals at the hands of the government,
08:02which is a much larger and more bleak part of the book,
08:05but without fully delving into their darkness so as not to disturb the more generally upbeat nature of the musical.
08:10But also, some of what is lost in the messaging is just due to the fact that we're only getting half of the story here.
08:17Some arcs and ideas feel half finished because they literally are.
08:21Where this film ends is just the intermission of the stage musical,
08:24but instead of spending 15 minutes reading the playbill,
08:26we have to wait a year for the rest of the story.
08:29We can't see the hints of these darker themes coming to the surface as we reach the end of this installment.
08:34Part 2, covering the show's second act,
08:36is where all of these deeper, more intense themes come home to roost,
08:40and so only time will tell just how Chu and the team will handle them,
08:44if they'll really make an effort to dig in and confront some hard truths in the way the book does,
08:48or seek to keep things commercial and light in the way of the stage adaptation.
08:53Given how closely the themes of ostracization, oppression,
08:56having to choose between morals and power,
08:58and the cloud of propaganda are to our current moment,
09:01one would hope that they do take the opportunity to really explore them,
09:05especially given all of the extra run time.
09:08Wicked is a fun, faithful adaptation of the first act of the musical,
09:11and does justice to that version of the story and its great songs.
09:15The basic messages of the story are timeless,
09:18yet also particularly relevant in our current moment,
09:21especially the importance of standing up for what's right,
09:23and for those less powerful than you, even if you might get vilified for it.
09:28Part 2 will have a bit of an uphill battle to deal with,
09:31the two most iconic songs from the show were already in Part 1,
09:34and given that Act 2 is already shorter than Act 1,
09:37to bulk it out to feature length,
09:39they're either going to have to add more from the book,
09:41which will make it quite a bit darker than the musical,
09:44or just add a bunch of filler, which will likely drag it down.
09:48The book is really a tragedy,
09:50and Elphaba's story is treated as such,
09:52so it will be interesting to see how far Part 2 is willing to tread in that direction in a genuine way.
09:58From Part 1, it's clear that you and the entire team really do love the story and the characters,
10:03so we're sure they'll do their best to do it all justice in the second installment,
10:07which we can't wait to see.
10:09Let us know, if you've already seen the movie, what did you think?
10:12And are you a bigger fan of the book, the musical, or did you just go in totally blind?
10:16And which way do you think they should go with Part 2?
10:19Incorporate more elements from the book,
10:21keep it strictly to the musical's plot, or a combo of both?
10:25That's the take!
10:26Click here to watch the video we think you'll love,
10:29or here to check out a whole playlist of awesome content.
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