Wicked review

WICKED: 

CYNTHIA ERIVO AND ARIANA GRANDE DEFY GRAVITY IN FILM VERSION OF ICONIC MUSICAL! 

By Nico Beland

Movie Review: *** ½ out of 4

UNIVERSAL PICTURES

Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo in Wicked

 

            The land of Oz returns to the screen in Wicked, the highly anticipated first chapter of the 2-part film adaptation of the beloved Broadway stage musical of the same name and sort of prequel to 1939’s The Wizard of Oz. The film is directed by Jon M. Chu (Now You See Me 2, Crazy Rich Asians, In the Heights) and tells the origin of Glinda the Good Witch and The Wicked Witch of the West before Dorothy Gale dropped in. 

            I should make this clear, I have never seen the original musical so I’m not sure how faithful it is to the source material and will be judging it on its own merits. I thought the movie looked good as someone who has not seen the stage version when I first saw the trailer though I did start to get tired of seeing it before almost every movie released this year. 

            Well, after all that buzz surrounding the film, I gave the movie version of Wicked and watch and I have to say, this completely exceeded my expectations. For a movie I initially thought looked good but dangerously close to being overhyped, I was enthralled by its story and characters and was even moving my feet while seated along to many of the songs.  

            The film follows Glinda (Ariana Grande-Victorious, Sam & Cat, Don’t Look Up) who after the demise of The Wicked Witch of the West recounts a time when she wasn’t so wicked and was simply known as Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo-Widows, Bad Times at the El Royale, Harriet), a young woman with a peculiar condition, and by that I mean she has green skin and magic powers. When she is enrolled into Shiz University, Elphaba meets the popular and privileged, Glinda and what begins as a rivalry soon becomes a strong friendship between the two witches. 

            But a fateful trip to the Emerald City and encounter with The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (Jeff Goldblum-The Big Chill, Jurassic Park franchise, Thor: Ragnarok) leads to a conflict between Glinda and Elphaba with the latter slowly beginning her descent into The Wicked Witch of the West. 

            The film also stars Michelle Yeoh (Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, Everything Everywhere All at Once, A Haunting in Venice) as Shiz University Dean of Sorcery Madame Morrible, Jonathan Bailey (Testament of Youth, The Young Messiah, Jurassic World: Rebirth) as Fiyero Tigelaar, Ethan Slater (SpongeBob Squarepants: The Broadway Musical) as Boq Woodsman, Marissa Bode as Elphaba’s paraplegic sister Nessarose, Peter Dinklage (Elf, Game of Thrones, Avengers: Infinity War) as the voice of Dr. Dillamond, and Bowen Yang (The Lost City, Bros, Dicks: The Musical) and Bronwyn James (Harlots, The Dig, How to Train Your Dragon (2025)) as Glinda’s friends Pfannee and ShenShen. 

            Overall, this first chapter of the Wicked film adaptation is an incredible feat on both a technical and storytelling level with an interesting perspective and greater depth on these characters we’ve known for a very long time through other Oz stories. This is also one of the most large-scale, visually dazzling movies I’ve seen all year (Gladiator II is tomorrow FYI) and I strongly urge people to see this in a theater for the best experience. 

            Yes, there is some CGI used on things like Flying Monkeys and Talking Goats, but most of this film was shot on sets with practical effects and it is incredible to look at. Much like films such as Avatar and Hugo, I was relishing in Wicked’s gorgeous production design and admiring all the work that went into it, I didn’t see it in IMAX but the movie looked amazing on the screen I watched it on. 

            On top of the visuals, I was captivated by Elphaba and Glinda’s stories and seeing how they became the characters we know from The Wizard of Oz to the point where now, I’m going to feel very sorry for the Wicked Witch when Dorothy dumps the bucket of water on her next time I revisit the original film. You legitimately feel for Elphaba in this movie and throughout the movie, you’re pretty much on her side even when she starts to descend into the Wicked Witch towards the end of the film and a lot of that is because of Cynthia Erivo who is damn good here. 

            Erivo really brings this likability and tragedy to the misunderstood, Elphaba and has outstanding chemistry with Grande’s Glinda, not to mention a chilling and phenomenal singing voice that blasts through the theater speakers. I’m serious, I just might have to get the soundtrack to this movie just because of her voice I mean, damn! 

            Ariana Grande is also a standout as Glinda and my personal feelings towards her aside, I thought she was great in the role and surprisingly hilarious as this hybrid of essentially Glinda from Wizard of Oz and Regina George from Mean Girls. She starts off as this wealthy, self-obsessed princess who only cares about herself but much like Erivo’s Elphaba, her character evolves over the course of the film and even during her mean moments she is somehow still very likable which is really difficult to do with a character like this. 

            The musical numbers are marvelous with so much kinetic energy, passion, and visual dazzle exploding onto the screen. My favorites are probably Jonathan Bailey’s Fiyero’s Dancing Through Life song sequence where the Shiz students are dancing in what appears to be a giant clock and the Popular duet by Erivo and Grande, the climactic Defying Gravity sequence by Erivo is also top-tier and gave me goosebumps despite hearing the song in every trailer for the movie. 

            I’ve never seen the stage version, but I could tell by this movie that Jon M. Chu has a lot of love for the musical and does what he can to put as many plot elements into the movie as possible, especially with it being a 2-parter. There’s even a neat cameo from Idina Menzel and Kristin Chenoweth who played Elphaba and Glinda in the original musical in here. 

            For a movie I didn’t have much anticipation for, Wicked defied gravity and surpassed my expectations with a truly magical and irresistible film adaptation that’s among the best Wizard of Oz-related movies. I have fallen under the film’s spell and I eagerly await Wicked: Part Two next year to see where it goes next.