WICKED - Therapist and Filmmaker Review

Wicked is a spectacular realization of the stratospherically popular stage musical, based on a book, based on a movie, based on a totally different book.
And yet, it's somehow still quite good!
Though _many_ of you are going to disagree with Alan's rating. Maybe even Alan disagrees with his own rating. Who knows.

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Cinema Therapy Reviews is:
Written by: Jonathan Decker and Alan Seawright
Produced by: Jonathan Decker, Alan Seawright, and Corinne Demyanovich
Edited by: Makenna Buhler

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[CinemaTherapyReviews]

Alan may or may not still agree with the rating he gave the film this morning. I'm _very_ very tired after 2 months of insane amounts of work, and may have been grumpy. I stand by the points I made, but I may have rated too low.

Or not. Maybe that's just how I feel. Who even knows anymore. I'm going to bed. -alan

[biblegirl]

As a fan of the musical, I don't really feel like there was a ton of padding. The "side stories" are really important for act 2. The only time I felt the length was the balloon bit

[pjmbyul]

As a major fan of the musical, I am SO glad they split it into two parts. I found it worked brilliantly and actually better than the fast-paced timing of the stage play, which left little room for dialogue and flushed out moments. This Part 1 film included 99% of what's included in Act 1 of the stage production — it's a near exact copy, a truly faithful adaptation, only they were able to flesh out each musical number and each spoken scene while adding a few additional scenes and moments that the stage play was limited to not including. So, I'll have to actually respectfully disagree with the comments about this being a money grab or a forced studio decision. The director and cast have consistently shared it was to tell the story the way only a movie can that a stage play cannot. After having seen the movie, I absolutely cannot imagine them squeezing both acts into one film, unless it was a 5 hour film. I think there's definitely an innocent lack of knowledge from viewers who haven't seen the stage production, but I of course don't blame the assumptions.

[Kirby_girl_]

Gotta disagree with Alan. Those were the fastest 2 hours and 40 mins of my life. I’m a huge Ariana Grande fan and a huge Wicked fan (read the book and saw the musical). I loved it. 10/10 for me!

[RichardBrennan]

The thing about “the padding” is that it lays the groundwork for the plot of the second movie.

[kelly]

It’s funny how they say this is padded. Honestly, it feels like there wasn’t a lot added. There’s no new subplots or anything. It’s mostly just giving the existing scenes more breathing room.

[LAF-Elph]

Wicked composer Stephen Schwartz said the reason it was split into two films is because it would have been anticlimactic to transition to another scene after “Defying Gravity.” He said there is a reason why it is the finale of act one. It’s designed to a show-stopper. Plus the would have had to cut out a lot of scenes that fans really love. As a mega fan who has seen the play multiple times, I’m so glad they chose to do it the way they did.

[heatherbaker]

I love when you said it's like the extended LOTR but for Wicked fans. That is 100% spot on! I could have sat there for another 3 hours. I am SOOO glad they didn't leave anything out and extended some scenes. The one change they made made me smile til my face broke (no spoilers. IYKYK).

[CG_]

1:59 part of the reason the movie is about the same length as the play is the movie could do things that the play couldn't - expansive views of the campus, traveling through the Emerald City, etc. A stage play simply doesn't have that capacity. So the movie was able to add 2 minutes here, 3 minutes there to let the environment breathe and feel as expansive as it was.

[Bahtmahn]

I’m in the minority that actually didn’t love the play. And the reason I didn’t love it was because for me it was way too rushed. A lot of the character development wasn’t believable or impactful for me personally because it just happened so quick. So I didn’t have the highest of expectations going into the movie, but DANG did I love it. The added run time saved the movie for me, giving the plot room to breathe and making the characters feel much more organic, believable, and even likable. The play in my opinion is a 5 or a 6 out of 10 but the movie is easily a 9. This really made it click for me why people like this story so much.

[jandmvideos]

I am 73. I’ve read the book, but only seen scenes from the musical on YouTube. I saw the movie on opening day, and the time just flew by. Three days later I had to fight off the urge to go see it again. It was fantastic!

[mihohomundo]

After first complaining about the musical being divided into 2 movies, and then analysing in depth, I actually think that that was a smart move. Actually, on the stage musical I feel like act 2 is a bit rushed, so now I hope they can add what's been missing (maybe from the book) to have a more solid 2nd part

[ReganSkye]

Just got home from seeing it with my bf. I haven’t seen the stage production but I was absolutely blown away by the film!!! The music, the costumes, the sets?!?! And don’t get me started on the performances. Ariana and Cynthia blew me away, and I couldn’t stop crying at the end. While we were sitting through the credits waiting on the crowd to disperse, I looked at my bf in tears and said “She just wanted to help the animals!” I just know this film is about to be my whole personality for the next month 😂

[thehouseofoverthinking]

I've read all 14 of the Oz books, all four of the Wicked books, I've met Gregory Maguire and Idina Menzel, I have Oz graphic novels and the Caliber Dark Oz series, have watched all Oz movies there are as well as the Emerald City. And Wicked was a triumph. I'm over the moon with it. You might have felt it was longer than necessary, but remember none of the songs on the soundtrack are that compact on the stage - the soundtrack often contains songs that are spread out a bit when you watch it live. Everything they added made it richer and stronger... I loooove it.

[sarahbergeron.artist]

Wow, I am so surprised by this! As someone who was not very familiar with the story, only a few of the songs, this movie seriously blew me away. When I heard it was almost 3 hours long and that it was only part one I groaned, because I was worried about padding and it dragging on (hello Hobbit trilogy). I felt like this movie flew by. Everything felt important and I especially liked that they took their time with scenes because the emotional impact was stronger. My husband is very familiar with the play and also loved it. 10/10

[aohara]

To me, those 2 hours and 40 minutes felt like 1 hour and 30 minutes and I loved it. It did NOT feel long at ALL, if anything I wish it was longer!

[hwatinyy]

I think a lot of people forget that Ariana Grande started out in broadway theater and as an actor on Nickelodeon

[aarien_of_aurolyth]

Honestly, I'm not sure they padded it enough. My only complaint was that the relationships between Glinda and Elphaba and Elphaba and Fieyro still felt as rushed and as crammed in as it has to be in the stage production. One good montage really showing Glinda and Elphaba's relationship as they become friends would have been amazing. That way we could really see how they went from loathing to being unlimited together. That passage of time couldn't really be shown in the stage production, but it could have in the movie. Instead it was one day they loathe each other, the next they start to understand each other and Glinda vows to make Elphaba popular, then the next it's Dr. Dillamond getting taken away and Elphaba and Fieyro start catching feelings for each other, and then Elphaba and Glinda are besties off to the EC. One good montage in between Popular and Dr. Dillamond would have done a lot.

[RandlesMusic]

Honestly kinda glad my family was the only one in that theater this morning, because I absolutely lost it when I caught the Menzel/Chenoweth cameo

[irishmuse]

As an animal rights activist I love this story and I love Johno’s questions. Once I learned what happens to the animals who are bred, exploited, and slaughtered for humans to consume, wear, experiment on, watch, etc. I couldn’t go back. My viewpoint and compassion expanded and my heart breaks daily to witness the apathy of my family, friends and society in general. It is also eye-opening how people want to paint me as a bad person simply because I stand up for animals and they don’t want to open their minds or hearts so they decide to hate me. The same thing happens to marginalized communities, obviously.

I would love to get Johno’s take on why people tend to close their minds and hearts when confronted with uncomfortable truths (black lives matter, trans people are just people, women are also people, animals deserve to be free, etc.) I think part of the reason is that acknowledging truths like these would require a major shift in a person’s world view and they don’t want to have to change. I also think that people vehemently refuse this kind of change because they think that the idea of change means that how they currently are is not good and they don’t want to feel like they aren’t already a good person.