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Chris Gore and Alan Ng review “Wicked,” now playing in theaters.
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0:03
well Allan it is time wicked is here
0:07
we've got the early review it's uh
0:10
opening to Fan screenings today and
0:13
opens this weekend it is based on the
0:17
stage play of the same name which is
0:19
Loosely based on the book that is a
0:24
prequel of
0:25
sorts to the original Wizard of Oz it
0:30
takes place both before and concurrently
0:33
with the story from The Wizard of Oz
0:35
giving you new insight into what made
0:38
the Wicked Witch of the West Wicked
0:41
Allan tell us about Wicked tell us the
0:44
story of wicked so uh if you're familiar
0:46
with the play uh it's basically the
0:48
First Act of the play but uh as you say
0:51
uh this is the origin story of the
0:53
Wicked Witch of the West uh she was born
0:56
uh an illegitimate child hated by her
0:59
father uh she uh has a a half sister who
1:03
goes on to the prestigious shiz
1:05
University and the father asks uh
1:08
alphaba here to uh guard her sister make
1:10
sure she has a good time because she's
1:11
in a wheelchair uh and we figure out why
1:14
later on um so everybody uh everybody
1:17
there all the the diverse students of
1:20
shiz uh can't stand the fact that they
1:23
have to go to school with a green witch
1:26
uh and they they treat her badly because
1:28
she is green um
1:30
but uh we soon learn that she has
1:32
magical powers which draws the attention
1:34
of um I Miz or Professor Myrtle
1:38
something like that uh played by
1:39
Michelle yo who says who says finally
1:42
someone with real witch powers and takes
1:44
her under her wings to develop the witch
1:46
powers meanwhile uh alphaba is forced to
1:50
uh is is encouraged to attend shiz and
1:53
her roommate is galinda from Glinda from
1:56
Wizard of Oz and she is a conceited
2:00
wannabe Wizard and the two of them
2:03
develop a friendship and this and the
2:05
movie is about that friendship and how
2:07
how um it it deals with a lot but
2:11
ultimately oh I don't know if I should
2:13
give away the ending but we all kind of
2:15
know uh the the Prejudice just builds
2:17
and it it causes uh alphaba to to
2:20
unleash to to uh to receive her F full
2:24
witchly Powers this is alaba's journey
2:27
to becoming Wicked right we see what
2:29
what motivated her what drove her and
2:33
really deals with the rise of
2:36
fascism now before people freak out
2:38
about the themes in this this is a
2:41
decades old play so alphaba sister being
2:44
in a wheelchair 25 years old yeah what's
2:47
that it's 25 years old almost yeah so
2:50
it's alphaba sister being in a
2:51
wheelchair that's from the play and it
2:54
ties into the
2:55
story alphaba Origins are part of it the
3:00
rise in fascism which deals with the
3:02
animals uh whether animals who can speak
3:05
should be a part of the university and
3:08
uh who is the professor it's played by
3:10
Peter ding dingl yeah plays the
3:12
professor a goat is he's a goat
3:15
basically yes uh professor
3:18
damand and I gotta I gotta I gotta put
3:22
my biases right out there first I love
3:26
the stage play based on my love of the
3:29
original Wizard of O because what Wicked
3:32
does it respects the source material the
3:35
Frank albam Source material and The
3:38
Wizard of Oz with Judy Garland it
3:42
literally is a story that is a prequel
3:46
and then runs concurrently once you get
3:49
into the events of the second film it
3:51
kind of runs parallel to what's
3:54
happening in The Wizard of Oz and even
3:56
goes
3:57
beyond won't get into that so much today
4:01
but um you gotta know it's a musical
4:04
yeah and the other thing yeah I'll say
4:07
the other part is the the Trope of the
4:09
villain uh being humanized not really
4:12
being the villain uh this is the first
4:15
movie first show to actually tell that
4:17
story so yeah it's not a Trope because
4:19
it did it first and it did it very well
4:22
yeah and a lot of people are trying to
4:24
put some political oh is this in view of
4:28
the election is this a comment on trump
4:32
it isn't the play was 25 years ago 25
4:36
years ago the movie was well into
4:38
production before uh you know the
4:41
election and if anything if you want to
4:43
read something into it you know it
4:45
really is alphaba as the witch is Trump
4:50
yeah I was thinking the same thing and
4:52
the the Wizard is Biden because the
4:57
thing that unites people is a good
5:00
villain so they make alphaba into being
5:05
evil they convince they convince the
5:08
public through propaganda that this
5:11
person alphaba is an evil witch but
5:15
Alaba is not Alaba has um really like
5:19
virtuous ideals that she she's standing
5:22
up for the animals she's standing up for
5:25
the animals it's a it's a and I'll say
5:27
this I loved it I don't care bash I've
5:30
seen the play four times I loved it with
5:33
a
5:34
caveat I didn't love it as much as you
5:37
um I give it an eight out of 10 I know
5:40
you gave it eight and a half on the
5:43
website uh when it's it's very gay I'll
5:47
say this however I'll say I want put a
5:50
pin in that let me explain
5:52
how it's about female friendship it's
5:57
about alphaba and go
6:00
Linda they hate each other they're
6:02
friends it it's about their friendship
6:05
being tested in light of the political
6:07
environment that they find themselves in
6:10
it's a beautiful story of female
6:12
friendship there's nothing gay about it
6:14
between the leads there's
6:17
even you don't see it that
6:20
often sexual romance is in the film
6:24
there are several romances blossoming oh
6:27
by the way with the same guy too yes so
6:30
there's a little a trio with is it what
6:33
Fiero a trio it's it's a you know love
6:36
triangle yeah love triangle love
6:38
triangle and then alphaba sister finds
6:40
love with a munchkin and it's
6:43
heterosexual love wheny you see that in
6:46
the movie now having said all of that in
6:49
the this is in the backdrop of the
6:53
students from shiz University that
6:57
are very diverse I mean you got I mean
7:02
very diverse not just you know ethically
7:05
but um you know gay drag queen straight
7:10
whatever and there's like you see guys
7:12
in skirts you see boow Yang plays that I
7:16
think they never come out and say
7:18
they're gay or trans or whatever well
7:20
he's gay he's definitely gay in the
7:21
movie he's definitely gay but he could
7:22
be trans they he literally does there's
7:26
an image of boow and yang and I'll share
7:29
it so the
7:31
shiz students are wearing skirts pants
7:34
and then they have this half skirt well
7:37
yeah I would say is like a half Kilt or
7:39
something like that I
7:40
think it's like a half Kilt yeah I mean
7:44
I'll say that they gender swapped for
7:46
boow and yang to be in it and quite
7:48
frankly I love the fact that boow and
7:49
yang is in this movie so yeah he
7:52
literally does uh I I'll just actually
7:54
show it to you he literally has like the
7:58
half skirt that you see on
8:01
bathrooms I'm gonna take this off for a
8:03
sec I'm gonna present to you uh what I
8:06
have here this is how Bowen Yang is
8:08
dressed and not just him other
8:11
characters have like a half skirt which
8:15
that is the transgender bathroom icon
8:19
yeah but he's not Trans in the way he's
8:21
definitely gay they never come out and
8:22
say what he is and it really doesn't
8:24
matter definitely well all I'm saying is
8:28
all the gayness of the film is in the
8:31
background of the movie if you're paying
8:34
attention it may bother you if you're if
8:37
you don't care and I'll say this it's
8:39
kind of consistent with the play I mean
8:41
the Denis of of um the Denis of of Oz
8:48
are very diverse that's from the
8:52
play
8:54
so so I'll just say it it kind of is a
8:59
little little Annoying like after a
9:00
while there was like a drag queen and
9:03
then you see when Fiero comes he's the
9:05
love interest they're like both men and
9:07
women are going o Fiero o Fiero so it's
9:12
it's this movie is gay and if you're
9:15
looking for it candy for everybody it's
9:17
all I can say is it's very gay and if
9:19
you're looking for it it is really gay
9:22
if you kind of ignore it it's a
9:24
beautiful story and let me tell you why
9:27
I respond to this play
9:31
as much as I think the prequels have
9:33
aged well the Star Wars
9:35
prequels I'm I'm tying this indirectly
9:38
to Star Wars
9:40
Allen uh it's it's a great story about
9:45
two friends and how through their
9:50
Journey end up becoming
9:54
enemies and I wanted the story of the
9:58
fall of Anakin Skywalker I wanted that
10:01
story to be this epic beautiful story of
10:04
two friends Obi-Wan and Anakin and I
10:07
feel the story is pretty weak I'll tell
10:08
you why what is the exact reason Anakin
10:12
turn to the dark side and I've done
10:15
panels at ComicCon where I ask this
10:17
question no one can give one answer I
10:19
get like five answers uh because you
10:22
wanted to save um you wanted to save uh
10:26
a you know Padme from Death he wanted he
10:29
didn't
10:30
he didn't want he didn't get a promotion
10:32
to be Jedi man there's a million reasons
10:34
not it's not definitive in this we
10:36
really see definitively what drove
10:39
alphaba to be become so-called evil is
10:42
she
10:43
evil so I'm watching Wicked the play I
10:47
remember when I first saw it I'm like
10:48
God if the story of the fall of Anakin
10:51
was like this of Anakin's turn to Darth
10:55
Vader was told in the way this story was
10:57
told we'd be talking about it forever is
10:59
one of the great stories of all time so
11:02
I see it through the lens of this is the
11:05
is this is the story of the prequels as
11:07
it could have been so that's why I
11:10
respond to it uh the stuff about hey if
11:13
you see Broadway plays they're all some
11:16
level of gay and who cares and I've
11:18
never been bothered by that stuff I
11:20
actually don't care I mean one of my
11:22
favorite filmmakers uh Indie filmmakers
11:25
is gay John Waters I love John Waters
11:28
movies you know so um I don't think it's
11:32
pushing any agenda per se but if you're
11:35
looking for it you're going to see it
11:37
yeah well let let's just say they're not
11:39
Al what are your what are your thoughts
11:40
so I I really loved it I'm going to see
11:42
it again I'm not going to see Gladiator
11:45
2 again but I'm seeing Wicked again uh
11:48
so I really enjoyed it yeah and the
11:52
message is there if you're looking for
11:53
it but it's not not all about a message
11:57
yeah I I really loved Wicked here uh I
12:00
I'll say this the fear was was it's not
12:03
that there's an agenda in the film but
12:06
the implication we got based on the
12:08
Press tour was that they're injecting a
12:10
PO political agenda into the movie and
12:13
thankfully they didn't do that um right
12:16
in fact my my advice to Universal is to
12:18
shut down the Press tour just stop it
12:21
let the movie speak for itself uh
12:23
because it will it will do well this
12:25
weekend it it will be the Barbie of this
12:28
year yes it will 100% okay so like you
12:32
I'm a big fan of the the play I've seen
12:34
it three times so you're up on me on
12:35
that one um this movie is longer than
12:38
the play uh which I like because a lot
12:41
of times when you adapt a a movie based
12:44
on a musical you it's shorter it's an
12:46
hour and a half and you cut out a bunch
12:47
of songs this one they keep all the
12:49
songs uh and then they add backstory and
12:52
I will say this there's probably about
12:54
45 minutes of extra material in this I
12:57
would say they could have cut that in
12:58
half yeah agree but but what it did was
13:01
there was a lot of things that they did
13:03
that they added that just added to the
13:06
emotional story this for example um so
13:10
there's a a munchkin Buck who loves
13:13
alphabe sister uh um NE Nessa Rose um
13:18
and and but he's actually in love with
13:20
galinda and then galinda manipulates him
13:24
that scene is played out so much better
13:26
in the movie than than in the play
13:28
because you you feel right away the
13:30
implication of this betrayal that's
13:32
about to happen um the the story between
13:36
you know talk about the animals and the
13:38
humans um you know the animals it's the
13:42
kind of animals should be seen not heard
13:44
uh so slowly animals are starting to
13:46
lose the ability to talk and lose the
13:48
ability that story especially with Peter
13:51
Dinklage that story is so well told in
13:54
this movie far better than it is in in
13:57
the play yep um so you know in terms of
14:00
sorry the the other thing I'll say is if
14:02
you are not a fan of musicals you will
14:04
hate this movie uh there's I I'll tell
14:07
you right now if you don't like musicals
14:09
forget it don't don't even bother
14:10
because it does everything musicals do
14:12
oh they're gonna break out into a song
14:14
yes they do oh a big dance number yes
14:16
there is um I will say that uh weirdly
14:21
enough uh there are songs in Wicked that
14:24
I'm that I don't really care for and
14:27
then there are songs that that everybody
14:29
or as or as I call those songs I'm going
14:31
to the bathroom I'll be right
14:33
back Great Moments this look I like hold
14:36
no no let me let me finish what I'm
14:37
saying let sorry sorry uh I will say
14:40
that this movie treated those songs that
14:42
I didn't like much better uh and and
14:45
weirdly enough the songs that I really
14:47
love uh didn't come off as spectacular
14:50
as it should have uh dancing through
14:52
life uh there's it it takes place in
14:55
this uh Library it felt very mediocre uh
14:58
and didn't really pick up until it got
15:00
to the ozes ballroom the opening number
15:03
um one short day um it's it's this Grand
15:06
number uh but I could tell you that
15:08
after when that number ended and you're
15:10
on this big note um no one reacted to
15:14
anything uh in my audience and this is
15:16
this is critics uh I will I will say
15:19
that there is a connection a new part in
15:20
this movie that's connected with the
15:22
Broadway play and when that moment
15:24
happened uh everybody in our theater
15:26
lost their [ __ ] yeah it's same in my
15:28
theater they went insane they went
15:30
insane for you know this weird because I
15:33
was going this is my reaction oh my
15:37
God and then and then um I'll lastly say
15:42
um that uh define gravity to me if if
15:46
this movie couldn't nail Defying Gravity
15:48
um it the the the experiment was done uh
15:52
they treated in a different way and I
15:54
was getting worried about it until the
15:56
final ending that final high note and uh
15:59
they did something I didn't expect them
16:00
to do and they just nailed it um I will
16:03
say that uh you know the big with my
16:08
daughter she didn't want to see the
16:09
movie because she wants to see the play
16:11
first uh I think this movie does Justice
16:13
to the play uh to the point where you
16:16
could watch this and you can go to the
16:17
play and have two very different
16:19
experiences um the one critic the one
16:23
criticism I have of films like this is
16:25
that uh sometimes there's an intimacy
16:29
you get on a stage with the actors and
16:32
the songs that do not translate to film
16:35
into the wood suffer from that uh into
16:37
Woods is a bad movie because they
16:39
couldn't capture that theatrical
16:41
experience this one I think I think John
16:43
mchu the director knew that and he did
16:46
things to to uh he he didn't make it
16:49
feel personal like on stage but he did
16:52
things to get get you as close as you
16:55
could and that was a lot of the extra
16:57
story um so I will say that uh I really
17:01
like this movie I will see it again and
17:03
I think it's going to be the the it's
17:06
going to do the overwhelming box office
17:08
this weekend and for Thanksgiving as
17:09
well and I think it'll be one of the
17:11
biggest movies of the year and I think
17:13
not just box office this will get
17:16
technical Awards uh acting nominations
17:19
are shoe this is a shoe in at the Oscars
17:23
sh in and AR ariiana Grande she did a
17:26
really good job I mean got to give her
17:28
credit and um the actress who played
17:31
alphaba she might be annoying in all the
17:33
press for the film but she synthia arivo
17:38
she's also very good she's good she's
17:40
not as good she isn't as good as the
17:43
other alpab buzz in my opinion yeah no
17:46
she doesn't ruin the movie yeah and
17:48
that's why I say it's you've got to stop
17:50
this press tour stop st let stop letting
17:53
them talk the Press tour is not helping
17:56
the film yeah it's not it's it's not the
17:59
movie is and I will say this it's way
18:02
better than the trailer way better than
18:06
the trailer so I recommend it I give it
18:09
an eight out of ten Allan I get eight
18:12
and a half out of 10
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