Rated PG

Based on the Tony Award-winning musical, WICKED takes an alternative look at the villain from THE WIZARD OF OZ and her friendship with Glinda the Good in school.

The tragic villain backstory has been done many times before – from Maleficent and Cruella Da Vil to Darth Vader and Magneto. Both Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo do fine jobs making the parts their own. We knew they could sing, but their acting really brings the movie to life.

Along with eye-popping production design and a handful of fantastic songs (as well as too much padded exposition in middling show tunes), this is everything the Broadway fan wants.

The Achilles’ heel is the punishing 2 hour 41 minute running time… and that’s only half of the story. WICKED: PART 2 comes out this time next year.

The first two hours drag with needlessly bloated subplots that never resolve, and unfortunately that makes for a mixed bag.

WICKED gets three broomsticks out of five. I’m Kevin Carr, and that’s the way I see it.

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