Wicked

So I have been waiting for the Wicked movie for a decade now. I have seen the show live three times and it has always been one of my favorite musicals. When the casting was released I was ecstatic for Cynthia Erivo to be Elphaba and cautiously optimistic for Ariana Grande to be Glinda. But now that I have seen the film I am happy to report that it exceeded any and all expectations that I thought I had. This movie could not have been better and I am going to spend the next few 100 words telling you why. Now this whole thing will be spoilers but the show has been around for decades now so this is really on you.

Joy filled my heart the second the orchestration started, this show has one of the most beautiful scores and it sucked me into the movie immediately.

There was a lot of internet complaining about the length as this film is simply part 1 and it is the length of the entire stage show. Yes they added some length to the scenes but the songs were paced out in pretty much the same way and this movie in no way felt overly long or at all incomplete. The joy of having a part 1 and a part 2 is that each movie is going to be a complete story.

The actual performances were truly incredible. I will say that the main problem in the build up of this movie was definitely the marketing. All of the sound clips that were released from this film were really the worst version of the vocals. The clip of Dancing Through Life that was released had Jonathan Bailey sounding flat and disconnected but he really surprised me. He is an astonishingly charming Fiyero, and his performance of Dancing Through Life was entertaining and beautifully showcased his vocals.

Cynthia was perfect as anticipated. Her acting was delightfully subtle through some really heavy scenes of the film. And she manages to convey so much on her face. She is extremely expressive and completely captivating. Her voice is powerful and angelic and I never doubted her as Elphaba for a second.

Now I did doubt Ariana’s abilities. And though she did have moments of desperately trying to sound like Kristen Chenoweth, she spent most of the movie being her beautiful, heavenly self. She really impressed me with her acting ability, this is totally the perfect role for her. She was emotional, she was funny and she and Cynthia blended so well together.

Idina and Kristen made an appearance in the film and they even had a moment of connection with their successors and it made me cry. I love that they were included in this film. Especially since the film version has been talked about since they were young enough to still play the roles. It was a really sweet moment that was for Cynthia and Ariana as much as it was for the audience.

As far as movie musicals go, this one is definitely top tier. Now I am a sucker for the songs in the second act so my real field day will be a year from now. But this film is truly incredible and I will be going to see it again, probably a few times. I have never been so happy to be wrong about a casting decision. Ariana is incredible and I hope she sticks with the more serious roles and musical theatre, it is where she belongs. This movie is a 10/10 and I hope that it gets the Oscar nominations that musicals are so often overlooked for. I will never get over the snubs of The Color Purple.