Wicked

A Familiar World, A Different Story

I love the kind of retelling that Wicked does, really flipping the story on its head. Making the villain the hero is a trope in retellings seen often, but rarely are they done this well. The Wicked Witch of the West is one of the most genuine heroes in any story and her friendship with Ga-Linda is refreshing and hilarious. I cannot gush enough about the premise and execution of the main characters by Cynthia and Ariana, and the writing of a high school/college friendship.

While the story and plot is a little lack luster in my mind, it’s the characters that really stand out. I usually don’t like the mean girls aspects of girl friendships in media as it is a little reductive, but they do it so well and then find their way out of it just as quickly into a deep friendship.

The other thing this musical does well is the music (shocking I know). I’m not a huge broadway fan, but the music here is fun, reflective, exciting, and emotional. The original soundtrack from the musical is good, but surprisingly I think the movie soundtrack is better. Speaking of which…

The last thing I want to talk about is the humor. Glinda is hilarious. You’ll notice I’ve now spelt her name in two different ways, that’s intentional, watch the movie and you’ll get it. Rarely do movies end up funny and exciting but this movie does it perfectly. I spent half the time in the theater laughing and the other half engaged with the story.

I really did not expect to enjoy this as much as I did. I’m not the hugest Wizard of Oz fan so my expectations were low, but it was really nice to see such a good well written story!