I’ll be the first to admit I had reservations about Wicked, and the first trailer didn’t do much to assuage my fears. The second one actually helped, and I began to be cautiously hopeful I wasn’t going to walk into a disaster, and you know what, I wasn’t! While not without its problems, Wicked ends up being faithful to the original without being overbearing, but your love of the Broadway musical will definitely influence your feelings on the movie.
Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo) is used to being an outcast. Born with green skin, she is constantly bullied, and her father not only looks at her with disgust but also hatred, blaming her for the death of his wife and her younger sister’s disabilities. Flash forward to her sister Nessa’s (Marissa Bode) first day at Shiz University, and Elphaba is noticed by Headmistress Madame Morrible (Michelle Yeoh) when Elphaba accidently displays her powers of telekinesis she has tried to keep hidden for years. Intrigued, Morrible insists she attends the school and has her room with the vapid and self-absorbed Galinda (Ariana Grande-Butera) who makes it her mission to continue to make Elphaba’s life hell. As time goes on, the two begin to find common ground and build a friendship while Elphaba’s powers continue to grow until she attracts the attention of the Wizard of Oz himself. He summons them to the Emerald City to assist him in maintaining order in the land, and Elphaba is faced with the Faustian bargain to accept his offer or do what is right, defy him, and be branded an outcast.
There are two types of people going to see this movie – those who know and love the musical, and those going in blind. Without fail, those who have a history with it have loved it much more than those who have only rudimentary knowledge. The latter have enjoyed it but nowhere near as much as the fans mainly due to the filler found in the second act.
For the unaware, this has a two hour and 40-minute runtime which is actually the length of the entire musical INCLUDING a 15-minute intermission. And this film is only part one! The saving grace for those in the know is that we get to look forward to what’s coming next which helps smooth over the dull parts. Other people don’t have that luxury.
If it feels like I’m putting it down, I’m not as it’s quite lovely. As an adaptation of an adaptation, it works out swimmingly and brings this familiar yet somehow different word to life in a beautiful way. The world is bright and cheerful which actually makes the menacing parts all the more concerning since people are obviously ignoring the evil portents around them in order to justify their own happiness. And if all else fails, we can always sing a song to push the bad thoughts from our minds.
And what songs they are! Musicals live and die by them, and the actors nail it. Cynthia Erivo is stunning as Elphaba, and her vocal power is equal to anything you will find on Broadway. For those concerned about Ariana Grande-Butera, she fully steps into the Galinda role and shows off her soprano range without relying on her pop style she is known for. She and Cynthia have wonderful chemistry together, and their relationship grows organically and realistically.
I still think they should have done the whole show as one film. That said, what is here is truly magical. Your mileage may vary based on your familiarity with it, but even naysayers won’t be able to walk out without some of the songs stuck in their head. While Wicked doesn’t fully manage to defy gravity, it gets close, and as the song tells us, what matters is that it will be very, very popular, and it fully deserves that.