By J1 Reporter Violet Christen

“Wicked” has been one of the most anticipated movies of the year. I got the privilege of seeing it on Nov. 26, at the Aksarben Cinema. “Wicked” lived up to my expectations, I have seen the stage production of “Wicked” two times when it has come to Omaha. 

While the movie had some changes from the musical, I thought they were necessary. Musicals are limited to a short amount of time, while movies have the option of being longer. “Wicked” the musical has some plot points that seem to trail off and never get explained so, when wicked the movies explained those points and made them make sense.

Along with the plot that was very easy to follow, there were so many amazing actors and actresses. A few standouts were Ariana Grande as Galinda, Cynthia Erivo as Elphaba and Johnathan Bailey as Fiyero. Grande and Ervio delivered an emotional and beautiful performance in the movie and Bailey portrayed Fiyero like no one I had ever seen. Between “The Wizard and I” and “Defying Gravity,” Cynthia Erivo has a voice of gold. It just shows how much she was made for this role. 

I thoroughly enjoyed watching this version of “Wicked.” I would rate this movie a 9/10 just because there were some weak links in the cast signing wise. Jeff Goldblum and Michelle Yeoh both were amazing actors, while their singing could have been better. But, these two are actors first, not singers, so from what they gave I think they were a good choice as well. 

I also thought it was important to point out that this is the first time in a “Wicked” production that the character Nessarose, a character with a disability, was played by an actress with a disability: Marissa Bode. Never before in any production of “Wicked” was Nessarose played by an actual actress with a disability. 

“Wicked “was an all around good movie. I definitely would go again just to watch Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande and their gravity defying performance.