Rating out of 10: 8 and ½
Likes: the cinematography, the way it utilized setting and worldbuilding, costumes, sets, music and (the vast majority of) casting decisions.
Critiques: I love Wicked the Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West (1995) novel by Gregory Maguire, I also love Wicked the Stage Show and Wicked the Movie Part One is a brilliant act as an adaptation of a musical to screen, however, in my opinion, it pales in comparison to the book by Maguire which is by no means perfect but it has some of the most poignant political commentary and canon bisexuality and queerness in a novel and as much as I love Jonathan Bailey for his work in Bridgerton and Fellow Travelers, Fiyero Tigelaar being a man of colour in the book is in the novel and it is handled with bluntness and nuance. No, I do not consider musical! Fiyero and book! Fiyero as the same character but it is still worth pointing out.
Wicked (part one – 2024) – Official Trailer
Loose Canon: The Wicked Witch of the West / Lindsey Ellis
If you weren’t already in the know, Wicked the Musical, based on Wicked the Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West (1995) novel by Gregory Maguire. Follows Elphaba Thropp a girl born green (and in the book coded bisexual and many say intersex) in a land of Oz stooped in strife and political turmoil and reimagines the wicked witch as a social pariah rather than an outright villain. Let us get the obvious out of the way first… if you already enjoy Wicked the Musical or cast recording, you will love this movie, it is one of the best films I have seen in quite a while. The cinematography is brilliant as is the score and the vast majority of casting decisions. But, put simply, while I love this film as a film and musical adaptation and adaptation of the stage play and 1939 MGM’s The Wizard of Oz. For me at least it simply doesn’t stand a chance against the analytical social commentary and social and meta commentary that is Wicked (1995) by Gregory Maguire and the Wicked Years books more broadly.
Do not get me wrong, I am happy this story or stories rather is being told and people are giving it attention again, but… the book leaves you thinking, of a world (Oz) in turmoil, a dark and messy world where frauds and propaganda and othering play an immense part. Elphaba in the novel turns against the system not because of being refused her family but because the system is unjust, and spoilers… although if you’ve seen the MGM film you have at least a baseline understanding of how this ends. We agree with Elphaba more broadly but even she fails in the end. The story of Wicked (as per the title) is about good and evil who draws those lines and who defines whose ‘in’ and who is ‘out.’ Wicked the Musical is about an outcast regaining her power and escaping her status as an alleged wicked witch (a title she only gains in the book because her sister ‘wicked witch of the east’ or ‘bitch of the east’ Nessarose the Eminence of Munckinland is being called the witch of the east). In the musical and while I will gladly wait for part two, we assume for now… movie, Elphaba Thropp the social pariah and wicked witch of the west escapes from being an outcast and leaves her cause altogether by the end… despite the very left-leaning politics of this film and musical it is still not as bluntly and cleverly political as wicked the novel is. In the novel Elphaba gives up her cause, yes, she loses and is melted in the end but she fights tooth and nail for it. Wicked by Gregory Maguire is a dark book about radicalization, fascism, growing authoritarianism and the thin line between good and evil. This is a brilliant film, I recommend it to all the theatre kids and even some not theatre kids. It does… however, pale in comparison to the 412 (in original print) meta and pointed political commentary that is the novel Wicked by Gregory Maguire.
“People always did like to talk, didn’t they? That’s why I call myself a witch now: the Wicked Witch of the West if you want the full glory of it. As long as people are going to call you a lunatic anyway, why not get the benefit of it? It liberates you from convention.” – Wicked the life and times of the wicked witch of the west by Gregory Maguire, 1995
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