Wicked Review & Quick History!  Why It Works (Except For...) - video Dailymotion

The Take Film TV Movie

Bu video Dailymotion Python SDK ile yüklendi.

Transcript

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.

10:32Don't forget to subscribe and turn on notifications.

Wicked Review & Quick History! Why It Works (Except For...)

Category

Transcript

Be the first to comment

Recommended