Wicked

In Wicked, animal discrimination is running rampant. We intimately experience this disaster with the case of Dr. Dillamond, a professor at Shiz University. The professor, who is a talking goat, flips a chalkboard while teaching which reveals an act of hate has taken place. Dr. Dillamond the talking goat professor is flustered and cancels the rest of class. Later he is arrested by human authorities and taken away, and his job is swiftly replaced.

This tragedy resonates with Elphaba, played by Cynthia Erivo, who is used to being an outsider because of her green skin and has also gotten along well with Dr. Dillamond, the talking goat professor. As a result, when Elphaba has the chance to meet with the Wizard of Oz, she expresses her concerns with the current animal discrimination. Yet, the Wizard is the one behind this bigotry, which causes Elphaba to flee, casting a spell that earns her her trademark flying broomstick in the process.

There is more to the story, along with Ariana Grande, but this general rundown demonstrates how part one of the musical is drawn out and contorted to function as an unconvincing superhero origin story. In Wicked, characters are mostly the same person they were at the start and end of the film except for Glinda, who gradually becomes more accepting of Elphaba, although calling it friendship would be generous. The film chops up the biggest number of part one, “Defying Gravity,” to forcefully build momentum to a climax at the expense of the music, which loses any possible intrigue in order to try and convince someone that this is a complete cinematic experience. It is unfortunately incomplete and the drama is yet to be earned.

Wicked sold itself as the same title as the original musical, not being upfront in its marketing that it was a part one so that it could sell more tickets. Not mentioning that the film is a part one can help it become more financially successful, as audiences are less likely to see a movie if they know they are committing themselves to a second experience months or years later. Every decision director Jon M. Chu then makes is to be as commercial and digestible as possible to ensure that people will be seated a year later for part two. Grand sets are dulled down by his disappointing leadership, and the land of Oz has never lacked this much color. 

Maybe when Wicked: Part Two is released, the two films together could be a satisfying experience, but for now, Wicked is artistically unfinished. We deserve more from our movies than limp nods to its source material and do not have to accept safe conformity so often. 

Blitz

On the other hand, Steve McQueen’s latest film Blitz is streaming on Apple TV+. I was fortunate to see this brilliant spectacle at the Belcourt and highly recommend it. The film stars Saoirse Ronan and Harris Dickinson with a score by Hans Zimmer. It is a WWII epic, set in England, when a mother and son are separated due to evacuations for children because of Nazi bombing runs. World War II films can generally help a director be taken more seriously by the public, as the filmmaker takes on a history many are familiar with and can critique its representation. However, Steve McQueen is a fearless director who does not seek to please audiences and doesn’t always follow a story to where an audience might hope it is going. It is a thrilling drama and my grandmother told me she liked it too. 

Roundup

A24’s errors continue as iLens had to postpone its screening of On Becoming a Guinea Fowl until next semester because of its delayed release. However, A24 is distributing the much-hyped The Brutalist by director Brady Corbet, which is coming to the Belcourt on January 17th in 35mm, and it just won Best Film at the New York Critics Film Circle. I recommend Brady Corbet’s second feature film, Vox Lux, streaming for free on Tubi, starring Natalie Portman and Jude Law.

With winter break almost upon us, there are more anticipated releases such as A Complete Unknown (December 25th), a Bob Dylan biopic, another Nosferatu (December 25th), and Babygirl (December 25th) that might be worth seeing. And below are a few films great for the winter season:

McCabe & Mrs. Miller

Evil Does Not Exist

Ikiru

Winter Light

Werckmeister Harmonies