Wicked - Is it unfair to say it's too slow?

I really wanted to love Wicked but for some reason, I actually found that I struggled with it. I was pretty optimistic going into the film as a lifelong musical theatre kid and also as a pretty outspoken defender of musical films, but something about the film didn't sit quite right with me. Don't get me wrong, I think it was a really well made film and I'm really happy that a musical film is having the impact it's having on the mainstream world of cinema but those two factors don't make the film more of an enjoyable watch for me. As of writing, the film is currently on 90% on Rotten Tomatoes and has already made back it's budget despite only being out for a short time period. This is genuinely a huge positive with cinema how it is and it's clear from any brief scroll on social media at the moment that there are a lot of people out there that are really moved emotionally by the contents of this film and this review is not meant in anyway to take that away from those that feel that way. As I said in my last blog, I believe that reviews should be completely subjective to that persons experience. I can sit here pretty confidently and talk immensely positively about how well made this film is but sadly for me in this case, it doesn't correlate to how much I enjoyed it.

As I said, there a lot of positives when it comes to the high standard created by Jon M. Chu, the Director, with the release of this film. The world build is truly fantastic with unique costumes and vibrant colours really setting the scene for what makes Oz what it is. In the build up to the film, the trailers got a bit of criticism saying that perhaps the colour grading wasn't what people expected it to be but having seen the film that is definitely not a problem with the final release. It is a good looking film and the films commitment to using practical sets as much as possible makes it stand out pretty strongly in terms of style and visuals compared to other recent released films. It also allows for a lot of really interesting and fun choreography for the dance sequences with my favourite personally being the Dancing Through Life sequence.

It was also always going to be hard to get wrong with such a strong soundtrack but it's worth highlighting that the film really delivers with it's songs, with great vocals all around from the leads. Ariana Grande-Butera and Cynthia Erivo are incredible in the main two roles (Galinda and Elphaba) with the likes of Michelle Yeoh, Jeff Goldblum, Ethan Slater and Jonathan Bailey all putting in strong performances to support them. I can't help but feel that this film will end up for me being one where I appreciate the soundtrack more than I rewatch but perhaps time will tell on that front. I also want to give a shoutout to Bowen Yang who plays Pfannee, one of Galinda's friends, who managed to get permission from Lorne Michaels to do this film whilst still regularly doing Saturday Night Live (with the help of Ariana) which is pretty impressive given that doesn't normally happen!

So now for the tougher bits...

In writing this review, I've been trying to put a finger on why the film didn't quite click for me and I think after a period of thought, I came to the conclusion that it's as simple as the fact that it is just quite slow to get going for the first two thirds of the film. It's a pretty long film (around 2 hours 30) and I think it struggles at points with it's decision to be split into two parts, with this film only covering Act One of the stage musical despite being the same length as the full musical itself. Although the film does really pick up momentum by the time Elphaba and Galinda get to Oz especially with it's final sequence, it definitely takes too much time to get going in the first half for seemingly no real reason. I'm normally all in favour for giving more opportunities to create more depth for characters but can't quite see the justification for the decision to expand the first half of the Wicked story as much as it did. I have a good feeling that the decision will pay off with the release of Part Two but for now, the decision just meant that Part One felt a little bloated at points then it needed too which although took away a lot of enjoyment for me, I would still say it's a pretty solid film.

It's no Tick Tick Boom though.

3 out of 5.

Courtesy of Universal Pictures