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Wicked (2024 film)
This is the first in a two-part adaptation of the musical of the book (which is in turn a re-interpretation of The Wizard of Oz investigating the Wicked Witch of the West's backstory). It's a very long time since I saw The Wizard of Oz, and I've not read the Wicked book nor seen the musical.
It's pretty unsatisfactory plot-wise - we start with the death of the Witch which is being widely celebrated in Munchkinland, and Glinda (who is rather half-hearted in her celebration) is asked awkward questions about her relationship with the Witch. At the end we reach what I presume is the interval in the stage show - Elphaba and Glinda are friends, and Elphaba has triumphantly departed on her broomstick to try and free Oz from the Wizard's distinctly iffy regime. I appreciate there will be a Part 2 at some point, but I was left very unsatisfied about the shape of the plot. Also, let's be frank, if you've managed to make half a musical into a 2 3/4 hour film, you've been doing some padding!
The plot is also a little tonally uneven - the comedy and the rather dystopian sections run into each other in a way that didn't really work for me. And it is all rather heavy-handed. Also, if Elphaba is so fatally allergic to water, why does she show no fear at all around it?
The songs are reasonable (though none of them have stuck in my head), the leads are very good, and it's very pretty. And I was pleased to recognise Peter Dinklage by his voice :) But I don't think I'd recommend it as a film.
It's pretty unsatisfactory plot-wise - we start with the death of the Witch which is being widely celebrated in Munchkinland, and Glinda (who is rather half-hearted in her celebration) is asked awkward questions about her relationship with the Witch. At the end we reach what I presume is the interval in the stage show - Elphaba and Glinda are friends, and Elphaba has triumphantly departed on her broomstick to try and free Oz from the Wizard's distinctly iffy regime. I appreciate there will be a Part 2 at some point, but I was left very unsatisfied about the shape of the plot. Also, let's be frank, if you've managed to make half a musical into a 2 3/4 hour film, you've been doing some padding!
The plot is also a little tonally uneven - the comedy and the rather dystopian sections run into each other in a way that didn't really work for me. And it is all rather heavy-handed. Also, if Elphaba is so fatally allergic to water, why does she show no fear at all around it?
The songs are reasonable (though none of them have stuck in my head), the leads are very good, and it's very pretty. And I was pleased to recognise Peter Dinklage by his voice :) But I don't think I'd recommend it as a film.