I watched the movie "Wicked Part One" and here are my thoughts:
First: Getting the movie. We are not in a stage of life that allows movie theatres so we looked to rent. It was rather confusing to rent from Amazon, but we figured it out and used some digital credits that added up nicely. We had 48hrs to watch it, and amazingly the kids went to bed quickly and stayed there for the length of the movie and a bit longer so we were able to just sit down and watch all three hours at once like it was meant to be.
Spoiler-free review: Let's just say - I liked it all. But actually not every little trait however small. Let me start out by saying I like the Broadway show so I was set up to like this movie. The costumes, the set pieces, the acting, the singing - all great! I was confused by the lower half of the Shiz uniforms - was it a unisex skort? I couldn't tell but it confused me. The main actors were exempt from the uniform so that means it was hard to get a long look at it which also means I didn't stay confused long as we just moved on. I liked how different Elphaba's actress's voice was from the Broadway actress's voice - both are amazing but in their own different ways. There were a lot of emotions clearly emoted by all, and the many nods back to the 1939 movie and the Broadway play were a treat to spot. The actors were chosen not just for their looks but also for their singing voices and it worked beautifully in my opinion.
Kid-friendliness: per IMDB, this movie is Rated PG for some scary action, thematic material and brief suggestive material. I stand by my decision to not let my kids watch as they are in the Y7 category (some G is too strong for them - they don't handle "mild peril" well). I think the film was rather tame until they meet the wizard (the final act of the movie as it ends at the intermission break of the musical). There was a bit more than "mild peril" at that point with POSSIBLE SPOILERS HERE (but really the play came out in 2003 so I feel you should know the plot by now) Elphaba reading from the magic book - it felt very witchy (which shouldn't be a surprise in a movie about witches but really more charlatans than witches). The flying monkey scene was rather grotesque body horror, then the guards closing in on our protagonists was very perilous and I'm unsure why this part didn't warrant a higher rating than PG. Yes there was no blood but there was... all that... going on. SPOILERS HERE for "all that": the wings bursting out of the monkeys backs, the monkeys then attacking E&G, the guards chasing E&G, the whole hot air balloon part with people falling from it and it all catching on fire. It was just a lot, and very different than the rest of the movie which definitely had darker undertones but they were undertones in a peppy musical.
Random thoughts: I feel like this movie was billed as "Wicked" not "Wicked Part One" and I've very glad someone enlightened me that it was only half the musical or I would have been confused at the pacing then disappointed at the ending. I was unsure how it was going to stretch a Broadway musical (2.5hrs) into two movies, the first of which was 3hrs. But they did it well! Lots of camera angles, side conversations, and the like were able to fluff it out without seemed forced.
