Super Bowl Sunday has come in gone, but the discourse is still ongoing, whether it is memes about Taylor Swift, the mostly disappointing commercials, some of the movie trailers, or perhaps even the game itself. But for me let's take a step back to one of those, the movies. Specifically the first showing of the upcoming Wicked movie. One of the biggest musicals in theater history, this one defined theater and inspired many for upwards of over two decades now. The movie was trapped in a perpetual purgatory, only existing as rumors, stories, and word of mouth in a tumultuous development cycle have flown for the better part of a decade, and it has finally arrived. As a two-part epic, so did the trailer sell me, or are we perhaps in for something bad? Let's defy gravity, throw caution to the wind, and find out.
For those unaware this is the narrative story following Elphaba, the supposed wicked witch of the west, and Glinda the good witch, in a prequel to The Wizzard Of Oz, finding there is more than meets the eye and perhaps not all the stories that persist are true. With a powerful score, strong ballads, and a beautiful message, this show has been keeping audiences encouraged and engaged for over twenty years now. The movie shows none of that. This is once again a movie trailer that hides so many facts about the film.
If you read the descriptions or follow the press only then is it revealed that this movie is only one half of a whole piece, followed by the fact that like other modern movie musicals, hides the fact that it is a musical. No characters are shown singing, and one song is played throughout the trailer but it is just used as background music to add to the scope of the trailer, rather than showcase a musical. No one is shown singing or dancing, and the trailer is quite short. This baffles me because unlike Mean Girls or The Color Purple where some people who do not follow musical theater may not know of an adaptation of the stage version and just take it as a reboot. Everyone knows Wicked is a musical, and everyone knows The Wizzard Of Oz is a famous musical. So why hide it? Why not showcase a musical, in a movie that everyone already knows is going to be a musical. One of the most famous Broadway musicals is getting a long-awaited film adaptation, so it's no secret, so trying to play cool and cover it up because some Hollywood insider said hiding musicals is the only way to make money, by tricking the audience and that musicals are guaranteed bombs is a dumb idea that needs to go.
The director of this movie is the same as that of In The Heights, which has me cautiously optimistic because that movie was a mixed bag, full of highs and lows, great performances and music, mixed with baffling pacing and writing flaws, but that is for another day. I hope this fares better, with this being two movies I hope the whole story is told and the extended time is used to better the narrative, and not just add scenes and songs to try and stand out from the stage version and try to be different for the sake of looking cool.
Visually this looks marvelous, the scope and scale are incredible. The makeup and costumes look fantastic and work wonderfully, the dialogue in the trailer was generic movie trailer dialogue so no comment there. The look was fantastic, the visuals were gorgeous and the best part of the trailer, the way it was shot had me and others asking questions and wondering where the placing of scenes and songs in this, as well as what was left to be shown. This short trailer covered what looked to be Act One and even potentially Act Two of the show, so wondering the pacing, and placement is fun speculation to have. Wondering what is real and what could be a fantastical dream sequence.
This left me cautiously optimistic, I want to see more before truly judging this film, and this was such a small taste. But still a small taste that looked impressive in so many ways, but full of baffling choices like the way it was presented, and what was and wasn't shown. The basic dialogue chosen and the lack of music left me worried, but the visuals left me excited, and the little bit of music made me want to hear and see more in action. This trailer was pretty poorly made, with some bright spots, and I hope the next one is better, leaving me feeling excited but also a ton of mixed emotions.
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