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Written by: Winnie Holzman and Dana Fox (screenplay), Winnie Holzman (book), Gregory Maguire (novel), L. Frank Baum (characters, uncredited)
Directed by: Jon M. Chu
Starring: Cynthia Erivo, Ariana Grande, Jeff Goldblum, Michelle Yeoh, Peter Dinklage, Bowen Yang
Rated: PG
Watch the trailer
Plot
Elphaba, ridiculed for her green skin, and Galinda, a popular girl, become friends at Shiz University in the Land of Oz. After an encounter with the Wonderful Wizard of Oz, their friendship reaches a crossroads.
Verdict
It's long and feels like it. The core of the story is fine; it's high school drama where adversaries become friends, but the musical numbers only repeat what's already said. I wish the music did a better job of expanding on the story. Shortening the movie would improve it as this is only half the story.
It depends.
Review
There's so much runway. I'd rather this start with the story proper where Galinda (Ariana Grande) and Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo) meet at school. Instead this starts at the conclusion of The Wizard of Oz with Glinda in Munchinkinland. There are also scenes that establish Elphaba's childhood. There's a lot of singing to not actually provide anything. This could have skipped all the childhood scenes.
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| Cynthia Erivo, Ariana Grande play Elphaba, Glinda |
Elphaba is illegitimate and outcast due to her green skin. She's a spectacle wherever she goes. That's no different at Shiz Academy. What a name that is. Elphaba possesses great power and she hopes that will grant her an audience with the Wizard. We assume she wants to beseech him to transformer her to look normal, but I expected that would have a twist. That power gets her into the the school and on her way to the Wizard, rooming with Galinda who later changes her name to Glinda.
Glinda isn't very nice. She's self centered and jealous of any attention Elphaba generates. It's a different Glinda than we met in the original movie. Elphaba is tired of the scorn. It happens just because she looks different. I didn't expect Glinda to feel remorseful about how she treated her roommate. There's this high school drama aspect to this movie where Elphaba is the outsider and Glinda is the popular kid that doesn't like anyone stealing her spotlight. I like that they become friendly, but even that seems like a stretch with how self-absorbed Glinda is.
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In this world animals can talk, though it's becoming increasingly rare. I wasn't sure how the animal persecution subplot was going to connect, but it's the impetus for Elphaba meeting the Wizard. This doesn't carry that ruse very far before revealing the Wizard as a fake. Elphaba's hope that the Wizard would help her is soon dashed. The Wizard only hopes to use Elphaba for her power and push his own agenda.
This is only part one of two. We reach a crescendo in the plot before the movie ends. We must wait for the next movie to reach a conclusion.
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