The other day, after spending more than five hours during a couple of afternoons watching two new entries in this year’s Academy Awards derby — the movie musical “Wicked” and the action film “Gladiator II” — I began thinking about motion pictures that are perfect.
Many titles came to mind, but I wanted to connect them to the two features I had just seen. I immediately thought, well of course, “The Wizard Of Oz,” the enchanting and colorful musical from 1939 is absolutely perfect. Regarding the action genre, equally perfect is 1973’s thriller, “The Day Of The Jackal.” It’s in the news these days because of the new miniseries of the same title on the Peacock steaming service with Eddie Redmayne as “The Jackal.” It is nowhere near as good as the movie.
The Broadway musical edition of “Wicked,” which opened in 2003 and is still playing at the George Gershwin Theatre, runs 150 minutes, plus a 15-minute intermission. The film, which is playing in theaters, runs 160 minutes and it’s only Part 1. For those who can’t get enough of the fantasy goings-on, Part 2 opens next year. The movie’s production budget was $150 million with added promotional and publicity costs, which are reportedly equal to the budget.
The story told in “Wicked” is relatively simple. Ariana Grande plays Galinda Upland, who will end up being Glinda, the good witch of Oz. Galinda is going to Shiz University to learn about magic and spells and lots of other wizard and witchy stuff. She has brought along a lot of pink suitcases.
Also at Shiz, but only to drop off her younger sister Nessa Thropp, who is wheelchair-bound, is Elphaba Thropp, whose skin is green. Through the blessings of a school administrator, Elphaba, who is played by Cynthia Erivo, is allowed to stay and learn at Shiz. Why? Because Madame Morrible (nicely acted by Michelle Yeoh) recognizes that there’s something special about Elphaba in terms of supernatural powers, and she wants her to study at the school.
All of this turns into a heady mix of new-found friendships, lost friendships, animosity, racism, sexism and bullying, all put to music composed by Stephen Schwartz, who also wrote the lyrics. The screenplay is written by Winnie Holzman. Schwartz and Holzman worked together to create the theatrical musical. The author of the Oz books is L. Frank Baum, and Gregory Maguire penned the 1995 novel, “Wicked: The Life and Times Of The Wicked Witch Of The West.” Maguire answered the question: what happened before Baum’s Dorothy Gale landed in Oz because of a Kansas tornado?
Director John M. Chu has created a whirligig of a show that never stops challenging your senses, not always in a good way. Sometimes too much razzle-dazzle really is too much. Chu thrusts his idea of gonzo entertainment at moviegoers almost to a fault. The psychedelic colors never cease to swirl, and the dancing is always energetic. Your favorite songs remain, including “Popular,” “The Wizard and I,” and “Defying Gravity.”
The acting, although good, can’t compete with the production values, and after a while the entire cast seems just a tad exhausted. However, the singing, especially by Grande and Erivo, is spectacular. The cantankerous Wizard Of Oz himself (a flawless Jeff Goldblum) comes across as the ultimate in curmudgeonly inflated male egocentricity. The handsome prince Fiyero Tigelaar is played by Jonathan Bailey, who goes full throttle and succeeds. There are cameos galore, including from the original Broadway stars, Idina Menzel and Kristin Chenoweth.
The movie is more hit than miss. The occasional imperfections — it’s like a relentless smiley face — may grate on some. The film’s pop art messaging is that caring about people is something worth striving for. There’s nothing wrong with that.
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While sitting through “Gladiator II,” I kept thinking about what would have happened if director Ridley Scott had decided to make an original movie, instead of reimagining what worked well in his multiple Academy Award-winning 2000 “Gladiator.” One thing that would have happened is that I would have been infinitely more entertained.
Imitation is not always the sincerest form of flattery, especially when a director is imitating himself. Is Scott trying to rely on foggy audience memories to sell what is essentially a mirror image of “Gladiator?” I ended up uninterested in what he was peddling because my enjoyment of the acting, imagery, story structure, production values, and ability to surprise in the earlier and more superior film has never waned. It succeeded robustly as a classic example of popular cinematic entertainment. Why repeat it when we can simply watch the original?
“Gladiator II,” written by David Scarpa, drags in relatives and Roman intrigue that includes foreign wars, gladiatorial battles, corrupt politics, jealousy, and revenge.
I like the actor Paul Mescal in his independent films; however, as the lead character, Lucius, he is too small-scale an actor to replicate, or even replace, the power of Russell Crowe’s Oscar-winning performance as Maximus in “Gladiator.” Connie Neilson as Lucilla and Derek Jacobi as Senator Gracchus return to remind us what’s missing. Pedro Pascal as a general reduced to combat in the Colosseum is very good.
What will probably keep you awake is a wonderful Denzel Washington stealing every frame of the film with his gloriously top-shelf acting as Macrinus, a former slave and current power broker and gladiator guru. He wouldn’t mind being emperor of Rome one day. Washington takes the paint-by-the-numbers screenplay and gives the audience joy, hope, and the promise of better scenes ahead. Alas, there’s only one Denzel Washington, which is a pity.
Scott’s first “Gladiator” had voracious villainy with Joaquin Phoenix’s Commodus ruling the conniving and backstabbing roost. No such overwhelmingly crude villain tracks mud through the hallways of Roman villas in this new action adventure. Instead, the director ratchets up the violence, especially in the Colosseum.
Therefore, if you haven’t seen the early “Gladiator,” and you go to this second wheezing effort, settle in and delight in Denzel attempting to save this 148-minute failed motion picture, which has a budget reportedly between $210 million and $310 million.
I cannot in good faith recommend that you absolutely must rush to this digitally-enhanced and imitative sword and sandal epic that never truly fulfills the power of Washington’s delectable view of the Roman world.