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That movie was calledStep Up 3D, and it came out in 2010.
It would be quite a feat: ThisWickedis huge in every possible way.
Despite being a lot longer, the film is ruthlessly faithful to the play.
Glinda is reluctant to speak at first.
The walls of Ozs villages are festooned with anti-Witch propaganda.
(Shes watching you, blares one poster featuring a sinister picture of Elphaba.)
I suspect this new movie will itself resonate in new ways.
(No, really.)
Its easy to see why.
Perhaps thats why Chu hasnt tried to give his movie Oz any genuine reality or weight.
That makes some organic sense in a stage production, but it can be wearying when translated to film.
Theyre all chorus, all the time.
When things do occasionally quiet down, the actors shine.
With her pagoda-roof eyelashes and her quicksilver physicality, Grande gives real comic shape to Glindas popular-girl frivolity.
Erivo arguably has the harder task.
Elphaba is the one who goes from rejection and sadness to love and stridency and, finally, rage.
And one of the films biggest moments is also its quietest.
Ill admit, I would have enjoyedWickeda lot more if I were a bigger fan of the songs.
Luckily, the songs dont need my blessing.
Theyve endured long enough that the studio has planned sing-along screenings across the country for later in December.
And when Chu does sink his teeth into the numbers, something wonderful can emerge.
This is clearly the work of the magnificent madman who made twoStep Upmovies.
The seams dont show, but the movie can still drag.
They impress in scale but not in depth.
And the film keeps hammering home themes its established, sometimes to its detriment.
That is perhapsWickeds greatest problem.
We wait not for revelations or surprises, but for affirmation and escalation.Wickedis as enchanting as it is exhausting.
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