Wicked (part 1) was pretty great. I've seen the show twice, and I think they managed to capture the core emotions pretty well and even take advantage of the film medium in some respects (because you can do face close-ups and linger on certain moments what you can't really do in live theater). Pretty uniformly the critic and audience reviews were high, and the few critic complaints I heard seemed to be more about the critic's preference than something actually longer. I wonder if some ever saw the show or were just really familiar with the soundtrack, as there are bits woven in during the actual performance that will briefly pause a song. I also did not feel like there was padding in the film, like maybe about 3 minutes of content that felt it could just be cut, but it seemed to breathe pretty well and gave additional time to emotionally fill out a scene.
Not just adaptations but actual shows will just have some variance in them based on what the actors themselves want to do, how they read their lines, how the singers approach their songs, and what the director wants to accentuate.
My actual criticisms?
1. Oz actually looked kind of bleached/faded in color much more than I expected; I really expected a lot more saturation, and I think maybe the film would have benefited from that. In general, actually, the film didn't quite "pop" as much across the board as I expected.
2. As is typical for theater-to-film adaptations, some of the cast was adequate without being stellar in their vocal work. The most notable was Michelle Yeoh, who more spoke than sang her lines (Madame Morrible has a stanza in Making Good / The Wizard and I) -- but it's freaking Michelle Yeoh and she has presence in her role otherwise, so .... I also do not consider her as big a secondary character like Fiyero, and he was great.
So basically not much complaint.
The film captures the core emotional energy/synergy among the cast and the characters. It frames the main plotlines adequately and highlights why Elphaba is concerned about the animals and then why she rebels against the wizard. This version made Fiyero actually INTERESTING as a person and I actually felt I understand his choices much better than watching the shows or listening to the music. Just like the theater version, it captures the nuanced dynamic between Elphaba and Galinda -- how they start as natural annoyances and even foes to each other, but there's a tipping point and their feelings change. Yet even then, they still have separate goals and capabilities, resulting in them each going their own separate ways (without rancor) at the end of this portion; they are such good friends or at least trust each other's intentions (even when they screw up) that they know they have each other's backs, even when that varies a bit.
The film gets right the two most important turning points of this chapter, and maybe a third as well.
1. The ballroom scene where Galinda sets Elphaba up to be made fun of, then has a change of heart as Elphaba rises to the taunt.
2. The Defying Gravity sequence that ends Part 1.
3. The seeds of Elphaba and Fiyero's relationship -- Erivo and Bailey really draw out the connection here, in their scenes alone.
Erivo of course nails just about everything and makes it her own and you can see definite parallels between her life journey and Elphaba's.
Grande is much better than people expected from her, and honestly this might be her acting career peak ever (she's decent), so I hope people stop bashing her.
There was also kind of a bit of celebrity casting here for a minute or two that I wasn't aware of, but people will probably recognize:
www.tasteofcinema.com
