Wicked, dir. Jon M. Chu (161mins) | Releasing November 22nd 2024
Last night I had the incredible honour of being invited by Universal Studios to attend an advance screening of Wicked. It was a brilliant evening complete with professional photographers, complimentary fizz and - to my utter disbelief - an appearance from director Jon M. Chu and his cast themselves. As a longtime fan of both Wicked and Ariana Grande, I found myself wholly starstruck when she tottered out to say hello. I say all this not to brag, but to thank those who have supported my blog over the past 10 years and engaged with my work. It's because of you that I've felt the courage to keep being vulnerable and post my work online (I'm honestly not as confident in it as I might seem), and it's because of you that I get these chances to be part of the magic like I was yesterday evening.
I also share this as a disclaimer--yesterday was pretty cool, and it will of course have impacted the way I feel about the film I now review. Wicked is based on a musical I love, inspired by a 1939 film I adore, and stars one of my favourite living musicians. This cannot be separated from my reception of the film, and perhaps it shouldn't be, for you're reading this to hear my thoughts on the film rather than to garner a verdict on its inherent value. Still, I'll try and interrogate this as much as I can in spite of the awe and wonder I felt last night.
For those unfamiliar with what Wicked entails, allow me to set the scene. This is, in the words of Phillip Pullman, an 'equel' to 1939's The Wizard of Oz and attempts to re-examine the motivations and histories of the sorceresses who Dorothy encounters in the original text. The play opens where Dorothy last left us, as Glinda the Good (Ariana Grande-Butera) arrives by bubble to share the news of the Wicked Witch's death with the residents of Munchkinland. What follows this opening sequence is a near-three hour flashback examining what exactly pushed our green witch into wickedness.
We find out that Glinda the Good was born under a different name - Galinda Upland - and that she wasn't very good at much at all. Her University roommate, it just so happens, is the daughter of the governor of Munchkinland. Her name is Elphaba Thropp (Cynthia Erivo), and yes... she's green. Wicked is the story of their rivalry-turned-sisterhood, and chronicles their divergent paths from school up until the end of The Wizard of Oz. Act I of the play focuses mainly on their Uni years while Act II situates itself more directly alongside Dorothy's adventure.
Jon M. Chu has taken the decision to adapt these acts as individual films, with 2024's Wicked operating as the first half of the overall story, and 2025's Wicked Part 2 concluding the narrative a year later. This has been a controversial decision, sceptically viewed as a money grab by many, but I'm pleased to say that Wicked Part 1 massively benefits from its expanded runtime and feels incredibly satisfying as a standalone movie. That being said, there are some problems...
Wicked the musical has always grappled with critical concern. In spite of its rabid and fervent fanbase, it's an open secret that its soundtrack is frustratingly inconsistent. Numbers like Defying Gravity, What is this Feeling? and Popular have gone down in Broadway history as some of the greatest in modern theatre, but others (Sentimental Man, Wonderful, Something Bad, etc.) are criminally bland. It has also been noted that the animal rights subplot (which provides crucial motivation for Elphaba - our green witch - to drive against polite society) is poorly executed in the stage production.
The relationship Elphaba has with Galinda in the play is far more moving than the one she has with her animal friends (who are being persecuted and silenced across Oz by an indiscernible force), and it would be fair to say that audiences feel generally more invested in the relationship between Upland and Thropp than in the subplot upon which so much of the action hinges. I was hoping that the expansion of the first act into its own three hour film would further flesh this out, making it more impactful, and it sort of does?
It's cool that here Dr. Dillamond (the university's History professor) is portrayed by an actual talking goat (voiced by Peter Dinklage) rather than by a man in a mask like on Broadway. And it's true that the CGI animals here do look brilliant. But this film's final plot twist (that reveals exactly who is behind the silencing of the animals in Oz) still feels underwritten and under-explained. We never really get to understand why or how the animals are being silenced, and this lack of insight really robs our main villain of their villainy because they never truly do anything that strikes fear or disgust beyond some cliche lines about wanting power.
The hollowness of this plot-line prevented it from really emotionally gripping me. I was far more invested in the characters of Elphaba and Galinda (and their relationship) than I was in the animals' persecution. Any care I had for this subplot rested mainly on the shoulders of Cynthia Erivo, whose sole motivation to defy gravity lies in her desire to save animals from inequality. Thankfully, dear reader, Erivo's are a very safe pair of hands.
Elphaba will undoubtedly be a career-defining role for Erivo - and she's already three-quarters of the way toward an EGOT. If Wicked Part 2 is as successful as Part 1 then her Elphaba will go down in history as one of the most iconic and well-cast movie-musical leads, and I'm not exaggerating. Her vocal ability is bewitching, and she hits her notes with such an air of effortlessness that it's hard to believe these songs were recorded live on set. There are moments of anguish, particularly during Defying Gravity, where I wanted a bit more face acting from her, where I wanted to see a bit more strain on her face, but in a way that's a testament to how at ease Erivo is with nailing some of the most vocally demanding riffs in the musical theatre canon.
Erivo's depiction of Elphaba focuses on her own inner-resignation toward the bullying she receives from her peers on account of her verdigris. This is a much softer, more muted version of the character than the one you'll see on stage, who is defined more-so by embittered resentment, and for the most part it works beautifully. The Oz Dust Ballroom sequence in particular excels in a way it never has on stage because of the decisions Erivo makes to conjure Elphaba's silent pain to the forefront, and I found myself welling up throughout the film in moments such as these. Some might prefer gnarlier takes on the character, but this is brilliant nonetheless.
Erivo's co-lead, Ariana Grande, is an absolute revelation in the role of Galinda. It might be hard to believe given her dominant career as a pop-star, but Grande arguably steals this whole film and delivers one of the best comedic performances of the year with her take on the flouncy toff. I was cautious to believe the rumours of her excellence going into the screening, assuming she had probably been overhyped by online fans, but no--I'm thrilled to report that this is spectacular stuff. She will be a major awards contender, and she's a total lock for Best Supporting Actress at the Golden Globes next year. It's not just her acting that delivers, though. Less surprising is the fact she totally nails her musical numbers, perfectly executing the (disappointingly rare) moments of choreography that dot the film and delivering pitch-perfect vocals throughout.
The rest of the cast are good enough. Nobody is bad in the film, but I do believe Michelle Yeoh's Madame Morrible would have been more impressive in the hands of a different actress. Jeff Goldblum is charming as the Wizard of Oz, and I wouldn't necessarily recast him, but I think better direction could have conjured forth a more interesting performance from him (he's chewing the scenery a bit here, and that stands out against the obvious reverence both Erivo and Grande have for their characters). Jonathan Bailey is also solid in the role of Fiyero, and he executes his Dancing Through Life number with flair, but something about his performance didn't quite work for me? His character is far more prominent in Part 2, though, so perhaps I just didn't have enough time with him to fully 'get' it.
The main qualm I have with this film, though, lies in its direction and bland lighting. 75% of this film is seemingly set at 12-noon, and almost every scene feels washed out by natural or diffuse white lighting. Wicked does not look nearly as bad as people online might make you think it does, and there are moments of real beauty dotted around the film, but a lot of this film does seem like it was shot for Amazon Prime, with the sort of directorial inventiveness you'd more-so expect from Coronation Street than from the land of the yellow brick road. It's particularly egregious when you remember how pivotal colour is to the 1939 depiction of Oz; that film isn't just rendered in gorgeous technicolour, but uses those vibrant hues to dramatise just how fantastical this world is in comparison to the sepia tones of rural Kansas.
This combination of uninspired direction and over-lighting results in a product that feels quite sun-bleached, or like a watered-down mimicry of that Zac Snyder style that dominated the mid-2010s and feels fairly dated today. This didn't ruin the film for me at all, but during the film's more visually interesting moments (where colourful and high-contrast lighting was finally employed) I found myself actively wishing the rest of the film was as magically realised.
Still, none of these qualms overshadowed the sheer enjoyment I had at seeing a story I love finally realised on the silver screen. There is a reason Wicked has enchanted over 35 million visitors across the globe and still stands in the West End today as a behemoth in the theatre world. This is a fascinating exploration of young womanhood and friendship that will no-doubt continue to enchant audiences in this new format, even if some elements here aren't as unimpeachable as Grande, Erivo and the highlights of the score (thankfully, almost all of Wicked's best songs are featured in its first half, and there are four or five musical numbers here which had me grinning from ear to ear).
I had high expectations of Wicked going in, and I would be lying if I said this was a perfect film, but I'm very happy to report that this is a bonafide bonanza filled with laughs, great performances and boasts two leading ladies whose talent alone might render this a timeless smash. They say you remember a film best by how it makes you feel in its final moments, and anyone familiar with the Defying Gravity sequence at the end of Wicked's first act will know it's the highlight of the entire show. This remains true for the film, and this sequence is adapted so successfully for the big screen that it locked this film in for me as an instant classic in spite of its aesthetic failings. And I'll hand it to Chu for splitting this film into two halves, because he totally ensured I'll be back next year to witness the closing chapter.
In short, this is a film that's as good as its leading ladies. Thankfully, Grande and Erivo are near-perfect and supply this production with so much of its joy and momentum, elevating the final cut above directorial humdrum. It's a shame that nobody else could quite match their magnitude, but considering they're in almost every moment of the film they ensure that it's wickedly entertaining regardless.
★★★★
Written by James Green
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