November 22, 2024 · Watch the official trailer
Unless they’ve been living under a rock for the better part of two decades, pop culture fans will certainly know the latest Broadway stage musical turned movie or at least its quintessential song, “Defying Gravity,” a showstopping number that has captivated audiences since 2003.
Filmmaker Jon M. Chu, who has already successfully adapted the Broadway hit “Into The Heights” for the big screen, returns with his reimagining of the first act of the modern classic musical with “Wicked: Part I,” based off the 1995 novel of the same name which takes inspiration from the L. Frank Baum tale “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz” and its film adaptation.
If things feel convoluted and scatters, this is by no mistake as viewers relatively unfamiliar with the novel and/or stage show may easily find themselves lost during large segments of a film that will see ardent fans quietly lip-synching or outright singing along in a 160-minute cavalcade of spectacle.
“Wicked: Part I” finds ostracized, green skinned Elphaba befriended by privilege, popular Galinda at a school for exceptional youth before they ultimately become rival witches in the classic Baum tale.
It’s important to note that a second installment is slated for release in November 2025 that is a necessary continuation of the story which abruptly ends in spite of its lengthy run time and a voiceover in the opening sequence assures viewers that she will “tell you the whole story.”
Much ado will be made about pop starlet turned actress Ariana Grande’s debut on the silver screen as Galinda/Glinda and she’s indeed impressive playing a character definitively in her natural archetype. Many portions of “Wicked: Part I” lean so heavily into her charms and quirks that it’s hard to tell a Tony winner is next to her even though she’s covered in green.
Grande is effusive in her performance, a larger-than-life caricature of glitter and glam that radiates a sweetness almost too much to take, which makes for highly entertaining musical moments often followed by arduously bland exposition that doesn’t really go anywhere.
Oscar nominee Cynthia Erivo does a solid job as the future Wicked Witch of the West and in spite of her strong efforts to find meaning in Elphaba’s isolation, there’s a cold distance Chu has created between her and everyone else in the film that it frequently extends over to the audience as well, disengaging them from her character.
Perhaps it’s because there are so many unanswered questions in the plot (what’s with the animals, what’s the prince’s deal), but Erivo seems somewhat sidelined until the final song everyone knows to send audiences out on a high note.
The pair are better together than apart as it’s clear Erivo and Grande have undeniable chemistry and genuine friendship in spite of the eccentric, almost outlandish nature of the roles they find themselves in and their musical, theatrical talents led themselves to playing Elphaba and Galinda/Glinda more than capably.
Jonathan Bailey as Fiyero, and to a lesser extent, Ethan Slater as Boq, provide love interests that help shape the larger narrative, but in many ways, Michelle Yeoh as the school’s dean and Jeff Goldblum as the iconic Wizard of Oz give audiences more instantly recognizable faces amid a much larger smattering of background chorus.
Where “Wicked: Part I” falls apart is in the meandering screenplay that unintentionally leaves as many unanswered questions as it intends to and direction from a filmmaker confident in his vision for artistic moments with a bubblegum pop sheen to them but lacks the ability to develop nuance or enhance character development in an engaging way.
Any subtlety to the character work – usually referenced in small glances or facial work by Erivo – is shortchanged for the purposes of this broad theatricality.
Aside from its two leads, the strengths of Chu’s film are the vibrant production design and cinematography that feel like a strange amalgamation of a stage musical and the classic “Wizard of Oz” film although every aspect of “Wicked: Part I” tends to favor the more superficial quality of Grande’s turn as Galinda/Glinda as opposed to the more subdued, ethereal take Erivo has on Elphaba.
Pundits and prognosticators will liken this film to last year’s commercial and critical success “Barbie” in an awards season run based off the latter film’s pairing with “Oppenheimer” with “Wicked: Part I” releasing on the same day for an oddly entertaining double feature as the highly anticipated “Gladiator II.”
Several things work against “Wicked: Part I,” however, when it comes to the practicality of a best picture nomination. The lack of a complete story and knowledge of another installment next year could easily sway voters away from the film as a whole though some may want to simply recognize Grande in a supporting role as there are no original songs written for the big screen to highlight.
Ultimately, “Wicked: Part I” is a very ambitious, very incomplete film that will thrill fans of the musical and leave those only mildly familiar with the novel or Broadway show with a sense of moderate bewilderment as to what the last two and a half hours of their lives were.
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