I was dreading seeing it. SO much hype. SO long (2hours 40)and that’s just Part 1! And took SO long (more than a decade) to get made. I ADORE the musical and those songs. And our beloved local author Gregory Maguire who imagined more about these two witches (who still haunt my dreams) than I ever could. Would this iconic, fantastical, but deeply human tale be crushed by the weight of the big-budget, big-screen, Hollywood treatment– or would it defy gravity? I saw it and it is good. Wicked good. WATCH THE TRAILER HERE!
WICKED flashes back and fleshes out the origin story of a pair of witches from the land of OZ and one of them is green: the Wicked Witch of the West, and Glinda the Good Witch of the North. They meet at Shiz University where Glinda, originally Ga-linda, wasn’t always good, but was always POPULAR, and the Wicked Witch, originally Elphaba, wasn’t always wicked, but was always green. Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo are nothing short of spectacular in these parts, and they, expertly guided by Director Jon Chu (CRAZY RICH ASIANS) hold the movie in the palms of their hands. In fact, these parts are amplified while staying close to their roots in the book, and honoring their ancestors on stage and screen, by which I mean 1939’s iconic THE WIZARD OF OZ .
The tale is told in flashback. From the minute Ariana Grande descends bubble-wrapped in her bubble crown and a pile of pink tulle, I’m thinking Billie Burke and her tinkly voice. Grande’s flutey, floaty, octave-leaping soprano is a gift from on high. What I didn’t expect was just how FUNNY the girl is. Her Glinda is adorably self-absorbed but has enough heart to notice Elphaba’s smarts and integrity. Still, Glinda is never one to pass up an opportunity to show just how good she is. So when Elphaba first sets foot on campus at Shiz University and is instantly shunned for her color, Glinda immediately rushes to her defense so everybody notices. This is followed by one of the funniest lines in the movie uttered by SNL’s Bowen Yang who, as one of Glinda’s posse, immediately chimes in, “I don’t see color.”
The film dazzles with almost too much of everything in every frame– it’s a tad cluttered. But the film also knows to maximize as much reality as possible in this fantasy to make it feel alive and spontaneous! The film uses actual built sets rather than CGI effects, and there are mostly no pre-recorded tracks. Grande and Erivo deliver their songs live on film and the result is authentically emotional in the moment. You may not know this, but you feel this– like musical theater but on screen. And there are surprises, one of which is composer Stephen Schwartz as an Emerald City guard who ushers Glinda and Elphaba into the Wizard’s private chambers and opens the door to a few beloved cameos!
A word about Bridgerton’s Johnathan Bailey who plays Fiyero Tigelaar a handsome flirt with a gleam in his eye who just wants to dance through life, demonstrated in the film’s most overly elaborate musical number. Glinda naturally tags him as her mate–when suddenly Fiyero is struck by Elphaba’s subtler charms. It speaks well of him, and Bailey plausibly conveys a depth of character we didn’t know he had.
The role of Elphaba’s wheel-chair bound younger sister Nessarose is feistier and given more space in the movie than onstage. She’s played by the sweet-voiced Marissa Bode who uses a wheelchair in real life and here makes her feature film debut. Jeff Goldblum as the lean and slippery Wizard is a kick, and Michelle Yeoh projects the requisite mystery and severity as Madame Morrible Headmistress and Mentor of Magic at Shiz U. As the plot thickens, the conclusion builds to a literal cliff hanger as Glinda and Elphaba stand at the precipice of a decision and sing that rousing anthem “Defying Gravity,” live– even as Cynthia Erivo is flying upside down to get the shot! The song soars, delivering the goosebumps I was counting on, and prepares us for WICKED Part 2, set to be released on November 21, 2025.
