On a chill November weekend, people line up at movie theaters to see two new, long-awaited movies: “Wicked” and “Gladiator 2”.
These films are radically different from each other which is reminiscent of July 2023, when Barbie and Oppenheimer were released. Students of Texas High and teachers had their own opinions about this comparison.
“Yes [they performed well and], I think Ariana Grande did Glinda justice,” freshman Hollyn Gerrald said. “ I think Cynthia Erivo is amazing [as Elphaba].”
Many students have watched and enjoyed two movies, including the casting list and the actor’s performances. Some have even watched the first Gladiator movie when it came out in the early 2000s.
“Yes [they performed like I thought], especially Denzel Washington,” freshman Roman Garcia said. “He had a big switch-up from what he usually does, but it’s pretty cool. “
Some teachers here have watched the original ‘Wicked’ while others have seen it up to seven times on Broadway in New York.
“I absolutely was blown away by the visuals,” photography teacher Clint Smith said. “I thought they did a very good job of staying true to the original story and not really changing it too much.”
On Rotten Tomatoes, “Wicked” received a score of 88%, with overall positive reviews regarding cast and special effects.
“I question Ariana Grande being cast as Glinda, but I thought that she did an extremely good job,” Smith said. “Cynthia Ervio played Elphaba extremely well, [and] I’ve seen multiple Broadway actresses play the character.”
The expectations for these movies were high, especially regarding the previous two movie events.
“No [it’s not similar], not at all,” Garcia said. “The hype is not the same.”
The reflection of the film’s overall cultural knowledge is limited to some degree for the stories.
“I really can’t compare it to Barbie and Oppenheimer,” Smith said. “[But] for a very good chunk of the world, they don’t know about the story [of Wicked].”
Barbienheimer set excitement and expectations for some, which may seem too ambitious for ‘Wicked’ and “Gladiator 2″ to recreate.
“I think there’ll be a much bigger marketing blitz,’ Smith said. “[A] bunch of little girls that want to be Glinda and Elphaba for Halloween.”
