Film Review: Wicked is a musical extravaganza worth celebrating [Video]

At 2 hours and 40 minutes, there’s a lot of Wicked.

And this is only the first part of the story.  Yes, despite the advertisements simply marketing this as “Wicked”, the opening credits inform us that this is the first half of the mammoth Broadway adaptation that expanded the wonderful world of Oz by letting us in on what happened before and after Dorothy dropped a house on a witch’s head and caused a little chaos on her way to the Emerald City.

Jon M. Chu‘s expansive sweeping musical is nearly the same length as the entire Wicked stage play, and that’s with an intermission; for those playing at home, no, this film does not include one – although, you could argue the year-long wait for Part Two is something of an interlude.  The director’s flair for musicality (In The Heights), investing melodrama (Crazy Rich Asians), and, even, action spectacular (G.I. Joe: Retaliation…