Saw it in theaters last night. Loved the movie as someone who saw the show once at like age 12 and barely remembers. HOWEVER that CGI de-aged Jeff Goldblum towards the end when the green elixir reveal happens was horrible. Genuinely had me vocally go “ugh ew” in the theater. Also it was pointless because we didnt NEED to see his face in the flashback. The flashback itself was enough to put the pieces together. (I only knew the reveal prior bc in Part 1 it was so obviously Jeff Goldblum singing that part) Besides that though I thought this movie slapped. Surprised to see the divisive reactions
Videos
SPOILERS for Act 2/ Wicked For Good. ⚠️⚠️⚠️⚠️⚠️⚠️⚠️⚠️
So, during all three watches of part 2, when it's revealed that the wizard, aka Oscar Diggs, is Elphaba's biological dad, you see a flashback of young Oscar with Melena. But to be honest, I wasn't crazy about the deep face. I have seen worse, but it made the actor look creepy. I get they want him to look like Jeff, but he already looks similar to him. It's not like anyone would complain. We would know who he is supposed to be. It’s not the 70s. Jeff has aged, and that's fine. Movies and shows have cast younger actors for flashback scenes in media, and it's still happening.
It didn't ruin the film, but I wasn't crazy about the shot. I would have preferred it if they had left him alone.
But this is just my opinion, if anyone disagrees, that's more than fine. We're not all going to agree on everything, and we shouldn't. It's nice to see things from another perspective.
Played by James Davies Williams (uncredited)
Factsheet
Dana Fox
Winnie Holzman
Wicked
by Gregory Maguire
Dana Fox
Winnie Holzman
Wicked
by Gregory Maguire
I just wish he didn’t play the exact same character with the same goatee and glib ad-lib lines in every movie he’s been in lately. It’s always a “never meet your hero’s” archetype. It worked the first time for him and maybe would have been a great addition if this was the first time he ever did it. But this wasn’t it. Everything else transported me to Oz. Jeff pulls me right back out of Oz. His singing was decent although I can’t imagine singing to those two powerhouses so props to him for doing it. He toned it down overall, maybe because he didn’t have all the power in this character compared to others to be so arrogant the entire time, but I’m over it. Even the stone face of him during Wizard and I got laughs from the audience.
I enjoyed every other artistic choice in this movie and it didn’t ruin the best scenes so for that I’m thankful.
I thought he did a great job and didn't do too bad with the signing, he played the sleazy conman that is the wizard very well
I was looking up those that have placed the Wizard of Oz before, and I have to say this.
Is Jeff a great and likable person? Absolutely. Is he an amazing actor? …No.
Because of his unique voice and speech patterns it’s hard to ever see the character he is playing. It’s never “characters name” it’s “Jeff Goldblum playing (characters name).” Sometimes it’s even “Jeff Goldblum doing an interpretation of Jeff Goldbum playing (characters name).”
However!
During the defying gravity scene I really have to give him a lot of props on his acting here.
You can literally see the shock horror in the wizards face. When he realizes, he just made the biggest mistake of his life.
The wizard is a conman, even in the original, and once he got to once and convinced them he was their Messiah…he decided he was NEVER going to be simply a conman again. For the rest of his life, he was going to live the life he had always dreamed but knew deep down, before getting to Oz, he was never going to achieve. At least in the same scale as what he achieved in Oz.
For years, he has become a shell of the charming and cunning man he once was. Now he just spends his time living in fear of all he will lose if his lies are ever exposed.
Elphaba, is “the one” or “the thing” that has haunted him for a while and now he is seeing that nightmare not only come to life but by his own actions.
Again, I will never say Jeff is an amazing actor. A great person all the way.
But this scene I absolutely have to praise him on.