I watched a version of the musical back when it came to Boston sometime in 2017(?) and wasn’t that blown away at the time.

I dismissed this movie at first for that reason, but I’ve gotta say, I’m sorry I waited. This movie has earned all the praise it’s been receiving. In of adaptation, a musical like this is perfect because so much is already being left to the audience’s imagination on the stage, but in a film, you can adapt it much more directly, and apply action and pacing not possible on stage. 

The music is really good, the costume design and choreography are incredible, and incredibly fun to watch. 

My ONE complaint is ittedly very petty, and of course only I would even care about this in the first place, but I wish it did more to try and capture the the “technicolor” look of the original Wizard of Oz. It’s clearly trying to match the tones, but it doesn’t quite meet it in the way I would’ve liked. An effect akin to what they did in A24’s Pearl would be incredible for this movie. But, this is a huge nitpick, and not a problem with the film specifically at all.

Really engaging watch, will be sure to actually be in the theater for the story’s conclusion.