So, they have finally made a movie of the long running show "Wicked." The original opened so long ago that Jesus and his disciples probably saw it. Meanwhile, it has toured constantly and there is literally no reason you could have possibly missed it. That includes me who saw it at the Hollywood Pantages about 20 years ago.
Admittedly, this backstory of the Wizard of Oz witches is engaging and entertaining. In fact, it's still on Broadway. And here's where the math comes in.
According to Playbill.com, the live show runs 2 hours and 45 minutes. Now, the new movie version runs 2 hours and 40 minutes. So that numerical comparison makes sense?
Er, no.
You see, the movie is really just Act 1 of the show. You sit there and, at the end, greeted by a slide that says "To Be Continued." Can Hollywood figure out yet another way to screw with the public?
Don't get me wrong. I liked what I saw. The casting is spot on although we once again have some inexplicable diversity casting with Cynthia Erivo as the bad witch. I mean, what difference does it make for her to be Black? She's green in the movie.
Still, I was entertained and I particularly enjoyed the cameo appearances of Kristin Chenoweth and Idina Menzel from the original Broadway show.
But, still... It feels like you had more than enough food with the appetizer and now you have to wash down three more courses. Director Jon Chu has thrown everything but Auntie Em's kitchen sink into this and I saw some little girls squirming in their seats. Clearly, less would have been a lot more. But now Hollywood can already plan for their big money making film release come next Christmas.
As they say...TO BE CONTINUED.
LEN'S RATING: Three stars.
Dinner last night: Hamburger and waffle fries.
No comments:
Post a Comment