Wicked

I genuinely wanted to love this film and was so disappointed with it in the end. I really enjoyed the West End play and so was keen to see this version. Boy did it drag. It was about 1 hour too long. The set was lovely, the characters were ok and some of the songs were upbeat enough to engage, but overall it just wasn't captivating enough. I didn't even like most of the musical score. At times it actually made me cringe and I wished for it to end. I know most people seem to love it, but I just couldn't. I tried, but I wanted to escape by the second hour. It was just far too long and not captivating enough to keep me interested.

Okay, my bona fides first. Saw a touring production of this show and really enjoyed it. Have listened to the Original Cast cd many a time. So was primed to enjoy this movie. But OMG was it slow. Which illustrates, to me anyway, that it did not to be in two parts. What's more, that putting it into two parts was a cynical cash grab.

In addition, it was frenetic. Stomping-style choreography in nearly every number, and quick cut edits that ruined songs like Popular and Dancing through Life.

Plus, the Emerald City didn't look much different from Munchkinland.

The two singers were fine, except I found it hard to understand Ariana G. When she sang high.

I have a feeling the rating will go lower as more people see this.

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..

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.