notsomighty

Every time we've been to the cinema the past few months and the Wicked trailer came on my wife got child like giddy because she loves the show and I've thought 'oh God that's one of those I have to sit through because to be fair she sits through most of mine moments'. So I've been counting the days and dreading, and when I heard the runtime I was even more distraught. I wanted to hate this movie with every bone in my body for a few reasons.

1. Not a fan of musicals (but I can grimace through them sometimes).

2. I love Wizard of Oz in its purest form and didn't want the legacy of it spoiling.

3. My wife's choices of films are more often than not 'questionable'.

4. Two hours plus in a cinema seat these days doesn't do my back any good at my age.

5. Ariana Grande.

Now being a realist my first impression of the movie might be a little offset because I went in with such low expectations as I've done this before on numerous occasions, but call me a softy in my old age (I'm 47) I absolutley loved it!!! Everything from the phenomenal soundtrack, set design, make up, costumes,comedy elements, character design etc...i could go on, you get the gist. It was brilliant, I may even go watching it again (the highest accolade I can give for a two hours plus movie) and I can't wait for part 2. A few purists have got thier complaints and gripes which there will always be on adaptations of previous pre-loved formats. But no complaints here, just a very good, well made movie. Wizard of Oz's legacy intact.

One more point...Ariana Grande steals it for me. Perfect casting!!!

I've held off for long enough, here's my two cents. Somewhere amongst the drivel script, awful characters, shoddy acting, contradictory star wars lore, questionable make up and its tiny sets, there's a decent story aching to get out but it's trying so hard to tick so many boxes by not ticking any boxes but ticks all the boxes that 'any true star wars fan' doesn't care about anyway it fails miserably on all fronts, and we're left with a very loosely and poorly researched and abysmally executed 'version' of something star wars-ish I would have ordered better from wish. I'm stunned I got past episode 3 to be fair. There was a glimmer (a very, very tiny speck of light in a very deep,dark chasm) of hope at the end of episode 6, when Osha (or Mai, I don't really care) did the thing with the mask giving me a shred of interest for episode 7, when boom! We're pretty much back to episode 3 in a cringe-fest flashback episode with that awful 'immaculate conception witch tribe voodoo narrative'. Terrible, absolutley terrible.

Now, I love pre-Disney Star Wars as it ran through my family's blood growing up, im quite fond of 'some' of the extended galaxy content (Clone Wars, Mandalorian, Jedi/Empire tales) but please, please, please whoever is responsible for commissioning this churned out slop of late, get a grip the world is crying out... (like a great disturbance in the force) it's awful!!!! I am woefully dubious about what the future might bring.

Note. Bring on the hate but I still prefer it to Andor.

I watched the final 3 episodes in one go and was quite simply blown away by all 3 but episode 16 was off the charts. One of the best star wars related pieces in quite some time. Gripping, tense and emotional with a well written and brilliantly staged set piece. My ageing brick of a heart was on the cusp of bursting but i'll leave that comment there for a none spoiler. Yes, there has been a couple of lacklustre episodes to keep the kids happy but overall the series has been top notch stirring up a nice 'bigger picture' storyline in the background. Mandalorian, take note...the Batch has just rased the bar.