The musical “Wicked” has had a foothold on musical theater fans for decades. Broadway icons Idina Menzel and Kristin Chenoweth originated the famous roles of Elphaba and Galinda respectively in 2003.
Now, over 20 years later, director Jon M. Chu of “Crazy Rich Asians” and “Now You See Me 2” took the helm of a two-part “Wicked” franchise, with the first part at a two hour and 40-minute run time. The whole musical stage production itself is roughly the same length.
When the first advertisements gained traction, fans were skeptical. The fake-looking design left a bitter taste in the mouths of both theater fans and the public. As other promotional materials, such as clips and inside looks began to flood the media, excitement and attraction towards the film grew, giving “Wicked” the chance to reach #1 movie worldwide.
“Wicked” has a lot of excellent elements, one of the most noticeable being the extreme talent of the cast. From the main characters to the ensemble members, the actors do a great job bringing the wonderful world of Oz alive.
Cynthia Erivo takes on the role of Elphaba and does so with powerhouse vocals. Her talents are widely known from her previous work on Broadway, so there was no doubt she would be a good choice for the role.
The casting of Ariana Grande was more of a gamble. Though Grande has had work on both the screen and stage, a role of this magnitude is a challenge; however, Grande does great work not only vocally, but with her acting and dancing abilities.
Together, the two witches have great chemistry on screen. Elphaba and Galinda have a complicated and changing relationship in this first part, and Erivo and Grande reflect that well. Their voices work beautifully together and their performances throughout are impactful and memorable.
Jonathan Bailey plays the role of Fiyero, a stereotypical self-centered prince. Bailey is most well-known for his character in the Netflix series “Bridgerton,” but he has also tackled the stage.
His take on Fiyero is so adventurous and humorous that you can’t help but smile when he is on the screen. Jeff Goldblum, Michelle Yeoh, Ethan Slater, Bowen Yang, Marissa Bode and Bronwyn James all fill smaller roles but contribute wonderfully to the spectacle that is “Wicked.”
Another standout piece of this film is the choreography; all were masterfully curated by Christopher Scott. Grande and Bailey are particularly good dancers in the film, but the rest of the cast has their talents utilized to the maximum within the routines. The costume and makeup combined with this make the film incredibly pleasing to the eye.
Additionally, the production design looks much better than it did in the original trailers. The world of Oz is magical with bright colors and interesting buildings. The production design was relatively consistent at keeping Oz dreamlike and fantastical, but there were some moments that looked harder to believe than others.
The film’s almost three-hour runtime raised eyebrows of moviegoers and “Wicked” fans alike; however, Chu created perfect pacing to make the film feel significantly shorter. It is easy to watch and stunning to see.
Movies that are as bold and showstopping as “Wicked” typically handle long runtimes well, but it was shocking to see a part one of a story be the same length as the whole stage production and work so well.
If something were to hinder the watchability of this film, it would be the screenplay. The dialogue at times felt cringey, cliché and even not fitting for the setting of Oz. It felt like certain moments could have been enhanced by proper dialogue but were then instead dampened by the odd energy created by what the character says.
Galinda and Fiyero, though their acting was great, felt underwritten. Though this could be tackled in part two, they should have more depth to their characters, since the potential with the acting was so great.
Furthermore, the movie struggles with balancing staying true to a musical and properly modifying itself to the media of film. The songs feature a lot of breaks and cuts to fit in dialogue, so that by the time the song resumes, you may not even remember the song was still happening; however, Chu did a good job utilizing the increased amount of space in a setting that a musical restricts, which is important when adjusting to film as a medium.
Though “Wicked” is not a perfect film, it is showstopping in several aspects. It is emotional and impactful and keeps the audience engaged despite what seems an unreasonable runtime.
“Wicked” is playing now in theaters.
