‘Wicked’ Takes the Long Route Down the Yellow Brick Road | Review
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During the opening prologue of Wicked, Glinda the Good Witch (Ariana Grande) addresses the people of Munchkinland, and promises that she will tell them the whole story of her short-lived friendship with the Wicked Witch of the West (Cynthia Erivo). Only, it isn’t the whole story. Rather than replicating what the long-running Broadway musical was able to achieve in a tight 165 minutes (with intermission), Jon M. Chu’s ambitious movie adaptation cuts the story off at the end of Act 1, while maintaining that 165-minute runtime. It’s a risky decision, considering modern audiences must be tricked into watching most movie musicals.
Wicked does well with capturing the magic of the stage production, which has endured for twenty years on Broadway, while drawing in additional plot details from Gregory Maguire’s similarly titled 1995 novel. Even with its extended runtime, Wicked never fully justifies the expanded plot points. The plight of the Animals still feels just as surface-level as it did on stage and the impending Act 2 revelation about Elphaba’s paternity isn’t made better because there’s now a flashback of her mother’s affair. Maguire’s revisionist take on The Wizard of Oz is better suited for a gritty and mature-rated miniseries adaptation rather than a picture-perfect family-friendly film.
At times, it seems as though the script was worried that someone might prune away the flashback scenes or that the audience might forget what happened an hour beforehand. Rather than relying on the fact that we are shown that Elphaba’s father hates her in the opening prologue, the dialogue reminds us over and over again. Even these few seconds of diversion add up fast, and they could’ve been trimmed away without losing anything. Either show the audience or tell the audience, doing both can bore the audience.
Cynthia Erivo Defies Gravity and Steals the Show
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As the musical’s title suggests, Wicked is largely focused on the Wicked Witch of the West, or rather, Elphaba, as she was known when she was a student at Shiz University. With Harriet, Erivo proved that she could carry the weight of being a film’s titular lead, and with Wicked she shows that she can dance her way through it too. Wicked doesn’t work without an Elphaba that the audience is rooting for, and Erivo captures the audience from the very first moment she steps onto the docks at Shiz. Erivo’s chemistry with Grande works well in forging the unexpected bond between Elphaba and Galinda, even when the direction sometimes misses the mark with them.
Erivo is a powerhouse, both as an actor and a singer. Her renditions of “I’m Not That Girl” and “Defying Gravity” will easily make you forget all about the original Broadway cast recordings that have been on repeat for twenty years. She is the strongest vocal performer in the ensemble, and she completely steals the show because of it. That isn’t to say that Grande doesn’t also give an impressive performance, but Galinda isn’t the most sympathetic character, nor is she given the real show-stopper songs. Grande’s best moments are paired with Erivo or Bailey, when their vocal talents blend together to create something truly magical. Though, “Popular” will certainly be a real crowd-pleaser.
Jonathan Bailey Gives Other Fieyros a Run For Their Money
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On the topic of stealing the show, Jonathan Bailey’s performance as Fieyro is a real scene stealer. Much in the same way that he was always able to pull focus in Bridgerton, Bailey knows exactly how to romance the camera—and two women at once. He doles out the charm in his first meeting with Galinda, and their brainless romance is quite sweet, but Bailey puts on a real performance when it comes to Elphaba and the simmering chemistry between them that rivals his romance with Galinda.
Wicked doesn’t really add much to Fieyro’s character that isn’t already in the stage production, which feels like a bit of a missed opportunity if they were going to pull from the novel for a longer adaptation. Perhaps Part 2 will build on what Part 1 has done with the character, and even if it doesn’t, Bailey has given past Fieyros a run for their money.
The Supporting Cast Is a Mixed Bag
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Nessarose (Marissa Bode) is a rather complex character, and Wicked does well with showcasing why she and Elphaba are often at odds with each other. Their father has forced Elphaba into a position where she’s not just an older sibling, but her sister’s caretaker, and Nessarose is actively seeking the freedoms they were denied at home.
Bode is great at playing the character with nuance, toeing the line between being a spoiled brat and a young woman who just wants something that is hers and hers alone. Even in love, her tryst with Boq (Ethan Slater) isn’t her own. Galinda convinces Boq to pursue Nessarose as a favor for her, and he only pursues Nessa because he thinks it will make Galinda return his feelings for her.
Wicked overdoes it with Galinda’s lackeys Pfannee (Bowen Yang) and ShenShen (Bronwyn James). The first few times they show up to sneer and make snide remarks about Elphaba is amusing, but by the fifth, sixth, and seventh time, their characters feel like a bad SNL sketch that has overstayed its welcome. Yang’s best scene is when he’s swooning over Fieyro, which is just incredibly relatable. Jeff Goldblum faces a similar dilemma as Yang, where it’s impossible to see the Wizard past all of the Jeff-ness on screen.
The strongest member of the ensemble cast is, surprisingly, Peter Dinklage’s vocal performance as Doctor Dillamond. It’s remarkable how quickly a few well-spoken pieces of dialogue can sway an audience in one character’s favor.
Does ‘Wicked’ Live Up to the Hype?
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Paul Tazewell’s (Harriet, West Side Story) impeccable costume designs elevate Wicked to a new level. Each costume piece, whether it was worn by Elphaba or one of the many background performers filling out a scene, was crafted with the same level of detail. From the hallowed halls of Shiz University, where Tazewell brought to life a creative twist on dark academia aesthetics, to the glitz and glamor of the Emerald City, where forty shades of green danced across the screen in a vibrant array of costumes.
Color is key to making Wicked pop. The Wizard of Oz is often remembered for its mesmerizing pops of color, which were realized by the highly saturated colors of Technicolor's three-color process. Wicked may lack the vibrancy that old-school film brought to the screen, but it does manage to dazzle and delight. It is far more beautiful on the big screen than any of the trailers portrayed it to be. The film’s cinematographer, Alice Brooks, has a keen eye for capturing quiet moments in the midst of the uproar of chaotic dance numbers and finding unique ways to capture the budding blush of romance or the first cracks in a character’s armor. Of course, this is praise that is shared with Chu, whose capable directing helps to craft those moments.
With the decision to portray more-true-to-form Animals, such as with Doctor Dillamond and the lion cub that Elphaba and Fieyro abscond with, rather than the anthropomorphized stylings from the stage production, Wicked runs into a few issues with its CGI. Both Animals rarely feel like they are occupying the same place as the actors, and, at one point, the lion cub appears to be malleable and fluid-like in Elphaba’s hand. It’s difficult to pinpoint why they fail to work when so much of the world around them has been beautifully enhanced by CGI. If anything, it creates something of an uncanny valley effect, which doesn’t benefit the poignant storyline unfolding about the plight the Animals are facing.
Wicked is a wonderful movie, and well worth the price of admission, but it simply doesn’t work as a two-part movie when you can get the “whole story” by snagging tickets for the touring production of the stage show. With this cast, this level of production, and such clear direction, Wicked is underserved by the decision to leave audiences hanging at the end of Act 1 for an entire year. The movie is guaranteed to be a smash hit for Universal, but lightning rarely strikes twice.
GRADE: B
Part 1 of Wicked is in theaters on November 22, 2024. Watch the trailer below.
