by Rommie » Wed Jan 15, 2025 7:53 pm
I saw it (in a theater even, gasp!) and liked it. That said, I was SUPER into the musical in college, so it's not like I was gonna not like the story (for example, spotted the cameos a mile away for the original actors of the Broadway show- they were in the emerald city number).
I think part of it is this movie was really just the first act of the musical. I get why they chose to do it that way- it's just hard to keep a movie going after the most dramatic, curtain-closing song of the entire musical- but it does plot-wise make the ending a bit flat for the last half hour or so if you don't know where it's going.
I thought Ariana Grande was fantastic as Glinda (better than the Elphaba actress, but then it's tough to do as much when your character is morose and grumpy), and a lot of excellent choreography, but what got to me was the level of detail on so much was so thoughtful. Like, gorgeous sets, but also kept getting distracted by little things like how cool Elphaba's glasses were.
Yes, I have a life. It's quite different from yours.