MOVIE REVIEW: WICKED: PART I (2024)
Two decades after Wicked -mania took over Broadway’s Gershwin Theatre, an expanded live-action film version finally hit movie theaters. With an army of devoted fans hungry for a movie version, Wicked ’s financial success was an obvious conclusion (plus, a ticket for the silver screen is far more affordable for the uninitiated than a trip to New York for the Broadway show). Two burning questions in the minds of the general public remained: would the movie adaptation be any good and, if so, could it do the musical justice? Wicked: Part I and its sequel are based on the hit musical, which is loosely based on the book Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West , which made a splash back in the 90s. They tell an alternate history behind The Wizard of Oz. The book took advantage of L. Frank Baum’s original Oz tales being public domain, but the musical and film are steeped in allusions to the timeless 1939 film starring Judy Garland. With that as the audience’s intended frame...
