Wicked – Review

This is a 2024 film adaptation of a musical that’s based on a book that’s based on a movie that’s based on a 124-year-old book, forgive me if I’m not too worried about spoilers.

I love The Wizard of Oz. It’s one of the pinnacle moments of cinema, from the fun tornado effects to that dazzling technicolor reveal to the final, sweet little moments. Stephen Schwartz and Winnie Holzman’s blockbuster musical, adapted from Gregory Maguire’s 1995 novel, is one of the earliest examples of villain backstory taking the character from evil to sympathetic, even heroic, and while that well is now poisoned there’s magic to this early effort. John Chu’s film adaptation takes that musical and blows it out of proportion, making a wildly entertaining if awkwardly-paced version of this song-and-dance extravaganza one of the major films of the holiday season.

Sure, it’s a bit silly, but this is also a franchise that involves a song titled “The Lollipop Guild.” Take the goofiness with a grain of salt, a necessary flavor-correction in this candy-coated story that asks…what if a villain wasn’t always so? Wicked isn’t trying to appeal to any new fans and just caters to its audience of theatre kids and musical nerds that are already primed to fall back in love with the material.

And whew, what material it is! I think it’s sort of funny that modern film advertising is afraid to market a musical as such, but it culminates with this. Each trailer has been afraid to show the singing, the dancing, and some of the incredible ways the camera is used to capture these feats. A shame, because between lead actress Cynthia Erivo (The Outsider, Bad Times at the El Royale) and Ariana Grande (you know who she is) this is a blast for pretty much any audience that’s willing to engage with a musical.

Erivo is an absolute triumph, able to weaponize her voice and performance together to create a deep character of Elphaba, the future Wicked Witch of the West. She roars, she soars, and she holds her own in the face of screen-acting legends like Jeff Goldblum (the wizard) and Michelle Yeoh (Madame Morrible, teacher at…sigh…”Shizz University”). It’s the mixture of bottled rage, glee, and sorrow that she conveys with her eyes that fully brings this whole effort to life. She pairs so well with Grande, who brings her goofy, baby-bird physicality to a the character of Galinda with gusto. Grande is bright, treacly, and in the end earnest as she navigates a lighter role. Her journey from mean-girl to meaning is a fun one to watch, even if it’s a bit rushed.

My one major complaint with Wicked is its length. The stage play, coming in at 2hrs and 41min, is just a bit shorter than this adaptation of its first act. The film has been padded with extra material from the book. Most of it feels seamless but that doesn’t mean I didn’t feel the runtime. Sure, did “Defying Gravity” move me to tears? Absolutely, but it capped one half of a movie that I wanted to view in one sitting. This doesn’t mean I’m not looking forward to the back half, but it’s a trend that worked once with Dune and regrettably seems to be a norm for films going forward. Stop this.

Luckily that length doesn’t derail or lessen a single musical number. From “No One Mourns the Wicked” and it’s rousing intro to Jonathan Bailey’s “Dancing Through Life” (be prepared for this to be an activator for a whole new generation of viewers), each number is a delight to watch. The dance numbers are, perhaps, my favorite aspect of the film. A stage production features a challenge in building that world so that those numbers can take place through a wonderful series of set pieces, but a film allows for a mobile camera and gives greater glee and indulgence to every moment. By the time we get to defy gravity you may be exhausted, but it’ll be a joyous sensation that’ll leave you wanting more. And more. And more.

In the end, Wicked is what you make of it. I got to watch it with a room full of fans, an AMC Dolby that was crackling with electricity, and I think that does the movie quite a few favors. It’s a very fun time at the movies and I hope it makes a billion dollars. I hope they run Erivo and Grande for Oscars. I cannot wait for next year.

Wicked is currently in theatres.