Wicked

The acting's great, the sets and choreography are spectacular, vibrant and full of colour and there are some great songs (in between them belting out notes for no reason), but it's hard to recommend when so much of it is left unfinished. The light plot fells drawn out, mainly focusing on the relationship between the two leads, with other characters barely used and other plot points never really explained. There's some good humour and attempts at defying traditional expectations but I never felt in awe or amazed at the magical world of Oz and the ending, whilst dramatic, felt rushed.

Overall = 6/10.

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.

For starters, I have seen the original Broadway Play of Wicked and I really like it. I love Wizard of Oz growing up and I thought it was a good interesting take of the world and setting.

As a film, I was always curious to see how it would be adapted. While I do appreciate it's faithfulness to the source, there are some good aspects but also not so good. Throughout, the costume designs, the production and the sound designs are amazing. It helps to build the world of Oz and create it's vibe. Including the musical score and singing that offers a vibrate, energized and colorful vibe.

However, as a whole, the dull presentation and it's stretched out narrative really seems to fail for me to fully engage with it's power. Writing wise, the narrative is interesting but being stretched out and added with unnecessary characters and moments makes it dried up. Causing some of the characters to be boring and not fully engaging.

The dialogue is pretty bad and there are some poor noticeable uses of CGI that kills away the magical vibe and feel of Oz. Most of the performances are just fine but they never really wowed me in anything particular. Because as a whole, I feel it's a bit overhyped.

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..

Got to see a few hours ago in IMAX which was magnificent even my sister was there and I'm pretty she loved it! Wicked should be up for awards especially for set design, acting and directing are all great aspects. I'm generally not a fan of musicals but glad I saw this wild ride a couple days before the wide release.

Cynthia and Ariana Grande were exceptional throughout they both deserve praise for their performances/exciting vibes! I had a long day I was little achy that was my complication otherwise this was delightful charming gem that will most likely be appreciated by most audiences as should be.