Wicked

With the raving reviews surrounding this movie, there was an expectation for so much more. I absolutely adore musicals and I had high hopes for this one. Throughout the progression of the film, I kept waiting for the moment when the movie became an instant classic in my books. Unfortunately, it never did. With a 2-hour and 40-minute run-time, Wicked left me feeling drained. The vocals of the leads were immaculate, the props were grand, but it still felt incomplete.

In terms of casting, Cynthia Erivo proved to be a wonderful pick for Elphaba, in both acting and singing. She also garnered much sympathy for the plight of her character and the challenges she faced due to her skin-color. Ariana Grande held her own as Glinda bringing various quirks and a unique comedy to her character, especially with her and Erivo's chemistry. Jonathan Bailey as Fiyero was surprising and fresh, though it felt as if we never received a deeper understanding of his character. Most of the supporting characters seemed more superficial, and not as easy to connect to. The motivation for the villains seemed incomplete especially when centered around the subplot regarding animals. Every set-up in the movie seemed to lend itself to a set up for another song or "you'll find out in part II."

There were moments in the film where it felt rushed, and times that seemed to be drag. Toward the final act, I loathed the idea of hearing another song. The plot seemed increasingly thin and unable to hold my attention. For a musical, most of the songs were forgettable, minus the finishing number 'Defying Gravity.' Admittedly, not all musicals need to have memorable songs if the plot is strong enough to carry it (e.g. Newsies), but the plot itself seemed just as forgettable. The run-time of the film should have produced a better understanding of the characters and a stronger plot. However, it merely presented a song-fest, with a weak plot and many choreographed dances.

Overall, it is still a watchable movie despite its few flaws and bloated run-time. But there are many others who do believe it is the best piece of cinema ever seen so maybe it's just me?

2 hours and 40 minutes and this is only Part 1?! Nowhere except for in the cinema did I see the film advertised as PART 1-not in the advertising, not in the cinema listing, and not on the marquee. I don't think I would have gone knowing there were more parts coming. And since Wicked was just as long as a musical and had a beginning, middle, and an end in that same amount of time, it means that they should tell the entire story in about 9 hours. Yes the creativity of the sets and the CGI of animals were amazing, and the leads were pretty good especially since they had big shoes to fill. Cynthia & Ariana held their own, and Ariana may have a second career as she was awesome on SNL as an actor. Jonathan Bailey was a standout for sure, and can obviously sing and dance and came across as completely swoon worthy. Bowen Yang gave the film some camp and humour. But I guess we have a couple of more films to give a solid rating. Is it a 1/10?-no, that's too harsh, maybe not your cup of tea or too long. Is it a 10/10?!-no you might be fanning out on Wicked The Musical, Ariana, or Cynthia a little too much and perhaps you need a restraining order. But somewhere in the middle seems appropriate, until we see the subsequent parts.

The stage play is far more enjoyable; pacing of the storyline and characters you really care about more than in this film. This movie definitely did not need to be a two-parter if the stage play can offer all the storyline and less time. I hope that there is a better cut of this film released when the second half comes out with the whole storyline, not exceeding 2 1/2 hours. These characters in this film seem so superficial. I'm not sure how you can compare this to the stage play. I feel that everything feels so fake in this movie compared to the stage play there could've been better use of all this extended time with more storyline..

The movie was too long .. AND its to be continued. Nothing like the Broadway musical which I liked much better. The music was good but the story itself wasn't that great. I definitely would not bring a kid to see it as it's not something they could sit through. They should have had more little people in munchkin land. I had a hard time keeping my attention on the movie. My grandaughter has ADD and could never have sat through that in the theater. Im glad I didn't waste the money taking her to the movie theater to see it. I will be sure not to waste my time or money taking her to see the second part.

I found myself bored while watching the first 3/4 of the movie. The runtime was too long, the movie had too many dramatic moments that dragged on. The characters talked more and more and throughout half of the movie I was wishing something interesting would just finally happen?? It just wasn't...fun. The story didn't suck me in.

I found Elphaba to be most enjoyable. Glinda on the other hand I found less charismatic, just because her development was unmotivated at times...The background characters are just drones with no minds of their own and I didn't find them memorable.

As a musical this movie did fine. I enjoyed the singing and choreography, although I don't remember most of the songs.

Visually, the sets, the costume design and the make up design was absolutely stunning....so WHY did they make the movie look so desaturated and unwatchable? There is a constant streak of bright daylight in my face! Can this movie switch to maybe the evening..? Or morning light?

I know everything's disaturated intentionally, cause they wanted to make it ''realistic''...But It's a FANTASY?! The animals talk and there is magic? And you desaturate it...? Other movie musicals which take place in the real world are more colourful than this movie, and it ''looking realistic'' doesn't add anything to the viewer, only frustration.

I found the last 40 minutes to be the most enjoyable part of the movie. There was no daylight, there were no uninteresting background characters and the plot was finally moving somewhere.

Overall, I gave it a chance and was left disappointed.