Wicked

Sometimes you just need to go into the cinema with your giant bucket of popcorn, stretch out in the bum-warming recliner, and give yourself over to the magic of Hollywood. That’s what John M Chu’s Wicked is - all of Hollywood (the grandeur and glamour of the old coupled with the innovation and creativity of the now)! [True confession: I’ve never been a fan of the stage musical or the graphically ridiculous book, so my reaction to this movie was a true revelation.] It had me from the first note, the first frame and throughout - the fantastical sets and costumes, the song and dance, the humorous and the heavy, the sweeping camerawork, delightful angles, and unexpected jump scares. I was all in! As G(a)linda, Ariana Grande is sublime (those crystal clear high notes!) and ridiculous (putting on a veritable master class of hamming, mugging, and comic timing). And Cynthia Erivo as Elphaba - well, let’s just say that after “The Wizard and I” I was ready to applaud mid-film and it only gets better from there! And, yes, it’s just a musical, but it has plenty to say about humanity and our world: citizenry duped by a larger-than-life charlatan ignorantly serving scorn to those with non-traditional hues. This transcendent Wicked is wicked good, defying gravity and destined to become a classic.