Movie review: Wicked
December 20, 2024
By now, I hope that I have seen this movie a couple more times ( yes, it is that good ) but I am writing this from the past, in hopes to not give anything away to anyone who had yet to see the movie. This being said, I will be spoiling some things with this review, so please proceed with caution.
I am not sure I am going to even come close to giving this a worthy review for how wonderful this film was, but I am sure going to try. Blown away does not even come close to how I feel about this film. The coloring, the costuming, the casting, the music, the choreography, the set design, the stunts…I could go on and on. It was all so beautiful done.
We follow the story of a woman named Elphaba, walking through the woes of life being green and wildly magical in an unkind world. She has a beautiful younger sister named Nessarose that their father absolutely adores, and Elphaba is often left in charge of. When it is time for Nessa to go off to school, Elphaba goes with to see her off, and ends up catching the eye of a professor when she has an overflowing of magic. The professor asks that Elphaba allows her to teach her privately because she sees so much potential in her, which then allows her to go to the school without even having enrolled in the first place. She gets placed in a dorm with a woman named Galinda and is, in every way imaginable, opposite from her, which, as you can imagine, leads to an interesting dynamic. Toeing the line between loathing and admiration, these two develop an unlikely friendship that leads them both towards a life far greater than they could have possibly imagined.
When I was in college, I went to New York on a girls trip with my mom, my sister and my aunt, and we went to see Wicked on broadway. Prior to this, I had heard the big songs such as Defying Gravity, Popular, and For Good, but I had not know how much I would love them in the context of the musical. Like any sane individual, I instantly fell in love with the story and the depth of the friendship, love, and betrayal that took place, and wept my eyes out. Upon hearing that it was going to be a film, I was nervous that I would not like it as much as I did seeing the musical in New York, especially with how much drama has been surrounding it, but I was pleasantly blown away. I cannot say enough good things about it. I think it may be my new favorite movie and I cannot wait to see what they do with the next film. Although, I will say, what I remember is up until where we are at, and I may or may not have chosen to forget what comes next.
The following is filled spoilers.
When Kristen and Idina came on screen as the wise ones, I burst into tears. If there is anything that can get me crying without much question, or lead up, it is something nostalgic, or a nod to the past. For example, in the Spiderverse movie when the Andrew Spiderman caught the Zendaya MJ because the Tom Spiderman couldn’t…ooof! I am getting misty eyed just thinking about it. Anyway, in case you missed it, the wise ones that were the main singers were the women who made those roles famous. They are the ones who skyrocketed Wicked to where it is now. They are the ones who made the roles into what they are now so, as you can imagine, I was a weepy mess.
Another great part ( I could write a book on how much I loved this movie, but this is the last one for this blog post, I promise. Thank you for getting this far ) was the dance at the Oz-dust. Ariana apparently didn’t learn the dance beforehand, and was allowing Cynthia to teach her during the filming, as to get the most raw and real feel to the scene and it was * chefs kiss * brilliant. The vulnerability of asking for forgiveness and friendship and the acceptance…I will think about this scene for years.
I adored this film, and if you haven’t gotten a chance to see it, please, I beg you, go and see it as soon as you can. It is well worth seeing in theaters.
