I was lucky enough to see “Wicked” with the original Broadway cast, all the way back in 2003. For me and my sister both, it was a formative experience. There is an entire generation of actors and artists and ardent fans who got into musical theatre because of “Wicked”. There are people of legal drinking age who grew up with this show.

Alas, it would be an understatement to say that the show is technically demanding. There are precious few high schools or community theaters that could manage the sets and costumes and effects that are intrinsic to the story. Hell, the licensing rights alone would likely cost a relative fortune. Simply getting a ticket to a touring performance would be expensive and hard to get.

But at least we knew the whole time that we would be getting a cinematic adaptation. Literally from Day One, it was common knowledge that Universal was involved with the Broadway production, and “Wicked” was such an immediate world-conquering smash that a film adaptation was quickly guaranteed. It might’ve taken twenty years, but we finally have Wicked.

It’s always a gamble when such a long time passes from conception to the final released movie (The Killer’s Game comes to mind), but the gamble paid off in a big way here. For one thing, the original play is no less beloved or influential after all this time. This has the knock-on effect of a film made of, by, and for longtime fans who fully appreciate how important it is to get this right.

Which brings me to the second potential disaster averted: The source material hasn’t aged a day. In fact, countless social media memes have already pointed out that this story about a charismatic con man luring a gullible nation into fascism and a young woman of color (green, but still) rising up to stop him has taken on a whole new relevance in recent months. I might add that casting the likes of Cynthia Erivo (a black woman), newcomer Marissa Bode (who really is confined to a wheelchair), and Peter Dinklage (arguably the most famous little person alive right now) only further emphasizes the themes of racism, othering, and oppression. Hell, Ariana Grande (Italian, for those who don’t know) went all-out to establish Galinda as the embodiment of white privilege and performative allyship.

Everyone on both sides of the camera stepped up in a big way for this picture. Even Michelle Yeoh and Jeff Goldblum — neither of whom can sing worth a damn — brought all their monumental charisma to bear in playing a couple of highly nuanced villains. Jonathan Bailey and Ethan Slater are both delightfully charming as the male leads. Nathan Crowley — the production designing grandmaster responsible for pretty much all of Christopher Nolan’s sets — has outdone himself in crafting a huge and intricately detailed world.

That said, where the hell was the dragon clock? It was an iconic part of the stage musical, looming over the audience through the whole show, and all it gets is a brief passing mention in the opening voice-over? Come on!

That outrageous oversight aside, this is absolutely the faithful and jaw-dropping film adaptation we’ve been promised all along. The only problem is, it’s two hours and 40 minutes long. And it really didn’t have to be.

For a case in point, I submit “Defying Gravity”. The crown jewel of the musical, the one (maybe even the only) song this movie had to get 100 percent right at all costs. And it was fucking perfect. That triumphant score. That staging. Erivo and Grande acting their hearts out while singing every note like it had never been sung before. The whole time Erivo and Grande were singing, I was openly weeping like I’ve never done in a theater since the first time I heard that song live on Broadway.

And it would’ve been so much better if the song hadn’t been constantly interrupted by so much action and dialogue and exposition. All these unnecessary breaks distracting from the song and wrecking the pacing beyond repair. It’s a recurring issue throughout the film.

My other favorite example comes near the start of the film, when we get an additional scene with a young Elphaba (as briefly played by Karis Musongole). This scene gives us backstory that’s wholly unnecessary because everybody already knows about the Wizard of Oz and how he came to the Emerald City. We get exposition about Elphaba as a bully target and her nascent magical abilities, all of which is entirely useless because we’re getting the exact same information repeated when Elphaba arrives at Shiz in literally the very next scene. That whole scene should’ve been cut and the movie would’ve been no worse for it.

This is part of a recurring trend with modern film musicals (most especially Broadway musicals), all of which seem pressured to be as huge and epic as possible. Likewise, there’s a pressure to stretch out certain moments with establishing shots that wouldn’t be possible onstage. Granted, there are times when going bigger and more outlandish certainly works, like in that magnificent library number. I’ll even concede the times when going slower and more intimate was the right call, as with Elphaba and Galinda on the Ozdust ballroom floor.

Unfortunately, a little bit of lag goes a long way. And when too much of it adds up, the pacing suffers for redundant exposition and extraneous action. I could point to the entirely useless action scene with the weather balloon in the climax, or the retooled Wizomania scene. Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad the scene was reworked to fit in cameos for Idina Menzel and Kristen Chenowith, and I can understand the logic in giving them more to do. But when so much of it is in the service of exposition that’s getting repeated in the next scene anyway, and when we go right back to the song as originally written, maybe we could just cut the new material, leave the cameos as a quick little Easter Egg for the fans and keep it moving?

So is Wicked a good movie? As always with these cases, I’m withholding judgment until Part Two comes out next year. (At least we have a confirmed release date this time: November 21st of next year.) Until then, we only have half a movie, and anything can happen between now and then. (Just look at what happened with Dune: Part Two.)

What I can say for right now is that the one and only thing wrong with this first half of the movie is that the filmmakers won’t get out of their own damn way. I don’t get the pressure to make the musical more epic and overstuffed than it already is. The cast is phenomenal, the music is legendary, the choreography is astounding, the production design is mind-blowing, and that’s all more than enough to do justice to this generational Broadway musical that’s still going strong two decades later. Can’t we let all of that speak for itself without extraneous action scenes and redundant dialogue to pad the runtime and drag down the pacing?

And I don’t want to hear that this was all necessary to coax in the laypeople. As a reminder, this is a 21-year-old musical adapted from a 29-year-old book, which is based on an 85-year-old movie, which is adapted from a 124-year-old book. We don’t need to hear about Oz or the Wizard thereof, everyone knows about all of that already.

Also, I remember when “Wicked” first came into the pop culture zeitgeist. I was there. “Wicked” didn’t come to the people, the people came to “Wicked”. The stage musical was perfectly capable of getting butts in seats back when it was brand new, why should the movie have to water itself down to accomplish the same? Also, how the hell is inflating the runtime to over 150 minutes going to bring in newcomers, unless they have a pause button handy?

Unless maybe all the padding isn’t really for the newcomers. After all, if anyone loves bombast and excess, it’s musical theatre people.

Regardless, the movie has already cleared a stellar opening weekend and all the established fans I know are raving about it, so what the hell do I know? And anyway, I’ve never once seen a movie that made me openly cry like this one did, so take that as a recommendation if you like.