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Movie Review: Wham!

Posted on October 22, 2023December 30, 2023 by Char1es0keefe_1

Details from IMDB:

Wham!

  • 2023
  • TV-14
  • 1h 32m

Through archival interviews and footage, George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley relive the arc of their Wham career, from ’70s best buds to ’80s pop icons.

  • Director
    • Chris Smith
  • Stars
    • Bananarama
    • Bono
    • David Bowie

Initial Thoughts:

This is going to be a shorter one. I’ll admit (twice in a row!) that I have been slow doing these posts. I spend a lot of time doing other writing and well really I do this when I want, so this is really just for my own looking back. I enjoyed Wham, though I never had any of their albums, and like many people feel that George Michael was an amazing singer and of course love songs like “Careless Whisper”, “I’m Your Man”, “Wake me up before you Go-Go” and yeah even “Last Christmas”. So with this on Netflix (which I must say makes/obtains a lot of good content now) we gave it a watch.

Maint Points:

I was impressed by the amount of footage they have of Wham! (George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley) when they were young and throughout the band’s career. Obviously, some kind of documentary had been planned quite a long time ago and I think it’s great it got to be completed. I really enjoyed learning more about George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley. I thought it was wonderful that so often in the music business bands/duos fight over money/control/direction/lyrics/jealousy and any other number of issues. Here as George Michael became very popular and did more solo work, Andrew Ridgeley is his best friend and supports him in everything he does. Ridgeley is also very honest and talks about how he wrote a few hits but then didn’t have any more good ideas.

You can see how hard it was for George Michael to be in the closet and in the very famous band, I was also unaware of the issues he had with his dad. Of course, for anyone who is a fan of 80s music, there are lots of other great parts, including several bits of unseen footage from famous concerts like Band-Aid and Live Aid. It was also great to see that they both agreed when it was time for the band to end, with no bitterness or arguments, just two friends who wanted the best for each other’s careers and lives.

Final Thoughts:

I thoroughly enjoyed this documentary. At one and a half hours it is the perfect length and if left me wishing there had been more of Wham!. It was also fascinating to learn they were the first group ever to play in China, which never would have happened if it had been known George Michael was gay (sad statement of the world as China feels the same today). They were one of the most popular bands/duos in the world and it was nice to be reminded of those fun 80s songs. My only issue is that perhaps they could have edited the early footage a little better, this is very minor and takes very little away from it. I give this a solid 8 out of 10 and would recommend it to anyone who enjoyed 80s music (and Wham! or George Michael). There is some mature subject matter and a little swearing, so ages 14+.

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