Wicked

2024
Directors: John M. Chu
Starring: Ariana Granda, Cynthia Erivo, Jeff Goldblum, Michelle Yeoh, and more.

Elphaba, a young woman ridiculed for her green skin, and Galinda, a popular girl, become friends at Shiz University in the Land of Oz. After an encounter with the Wonderful Wizard of Oz, their friendship reaches a crossroads.

Yes, I know. It’s been out almost a year. Honestly, I’ve never read the book. I’ve never seen the musical. A friend of mine wouldn’t let this go until I watched the movie and I did. I was pleasantly surprised.

Few Broadway productions have loomed as large as Wicked. Hell, I’d heard of it and I’m not usually a musical fan. But it’s redefined modern musical theater and inspired a generation of fans who can sing “Defying Gravity” by heart. So when Universal set out to adapt it into a two-part cinematic event, expectations soared sky-high. With powerhouse Cynthia Erivo as Elphaba, pop phenomenon Ariana Grande as Glinda, Michelle Yeoh, Jonathan Bailey, Jeff Goldblum, and Jon M. Chu (Crazy Rich Asians, In the Heights) at the helm, how could it not be magical?

Since most of you out there probably know a lot more about Wicked ‘s story than I do, let’s look at the film itself. Fans of the show were a little worried last year when the first trailers arrived. Who does Oz look so drab? I see what they were saying. Chu uses a hazy yellow-gray filter that mutes both Elphaba’s emerald skin and Glinda’s pink gowns. Shiz University, they said, should sparkle with possibility. Instead, it feels oddly claustrophobic and a little washed out. The design is there, the vitality isn’t.

The irony? This is Glinda’s point of view for much of the story. She’s bubbly, bold, and bathed in self-importance. Her world should pop. Instead, it’s suffocated in drabness.

Grande and Erivo step into roles haunted by comparisons: Kristin Chenoweth and Idina Menzel defined them for Broadway audiences, and the 1939 Wizard of Oz casts an even longer shadow.

Grande, surprisingly, is the revelation. Her Glinda is gloriously over-the-top, equal parts sorority diva and drag queen fantasy. Her comedic timing sparkles, her physical comedy in “Popular” finally lets that number feel as deliriously fun as fans always hoped, and she leans into the ridiculousness with poise.

Erivo, meanwhile, takes the opposite tack. Her Elphaba is stripped of the witty bite that once made the character such a teen-outsider icon. Instead, she plays her as wounded, weary, almost whisper-quiet until her big numbers. The vulnerability is daring, but it also leaves the Glinda-Elphaba dynamic off-balance, less the lively clash of opposites and more a lopsided friendship between a sulking loner and a sparkling extrovert. It’s not until “One Short Day” in the Emerald City that Erivo truly ignites, and by then much of the first film has already trudged by.

Chu’s biggest head-scratching choice isn’t splitting the story into two films. No, it’s how he presents the music. Big set-pieces like “Dancing Through Life,” staged with acrobatic students bouncing across massive wheel-shaped bookcases, should be exhilarating. Instead, the understated cinematography dulls the fun.

But when the movie hits, it soars. Grande’s “Popular” is pure chaos candy. The climactic “Defying Gravity” feels powerful enough to stand on its own as the finale. And Bailey’s Fiyero glides in with rakish charm that’s impossible to ignore.

For someone new to the entire fair, I had to say Wicked: Part One is a film of contradictions. The performances are largely terrific, the sets imaginative, and the music iconic. Yet Chu’s muted visual style and Erivo’s somber interpretation drain too much energy from what (I’m told) should be a dazzling spectacle. The result is a film that feels half-cast: moments of magic smothered under dark clouds.

The real test will be Part Two. Will Chu finally let Oz shine in emerald brilliance, or will audiences be left longing for the vibrancy of Broadway? For now, Wicked fans may walk out humming, but also wondering why the world of Oz looked so dim when it was supposed to feel limitless.

It’s rated PG and it’s two hours and 40 minutes long but it surprisingly went by fast enough that I didn’t notice it. If you haven’t seen it yet, give it a go. Especially if you like musicals. If you’re anxious for the second part, give it a rewatch. Why not?