The movie adaptation of the Broadway musical “Wicked” came out on November 22nd, 2024, over 2 decades after the original Broadway show in 2003. The show was a prequel extension to the original story of “The Wizard of Oz” by Author Lyman Frank Baum.
The story follows the school days of the future Wicked Witch of the West “Elphaba Thropp”(Cynthia Erivo) and Galinda Upland, the future “Glinda the Good”(Ariana Grande-Butera). The beginning starts as the aftermath of Dorothy melting the Wicked Witch, as Glinda announces the news to Munchkin Land. She then tells the story of Elphaba’s hard childhood because of her green skin, special powers, and meeting her soon-to-be best friend at Shiz University.
Elphaba’s potential is taken up by Professor Madame Morrible (who works beside the Wizard) as she trains Elphaba to control her powers. Prince Fyero (Jonothan Bailey) and Glinda fall in love seeing as they are both shallow and “perfect”, but Fyero feels something for Elphaba as they both band together to free a lion cub.
The film ends with the two meeting the Wizard of Oz (Jeff Goldblum), and unleashing Elphaba’s real power by tricking her into turning the monkeys into “winged monkeys”, Elphaba learns the Wizard is a fraud and escapes with Glinda. After escaping, the two share an angry duet, which turns into an emotional goodbye for the two friends, Ephaba decides to leave as she is “Defying Gravity”, leaving Glinda behind to be in control of the Wizard and Madame Morrible, with an ending card reading “To be Continued.”
Director John M. Chews’s decision to use real-world sets and actual scenery paid off ,the second the movie starts you emerge into the Land of Oz . I was afraid the coloring of the movie would be too dark and lose some of the “magical” touches as so many new live-action movies have this year, but once I saw the film I was pleasantly surprised, the coloring was vibrant and unreal.
In the stage musical, Wicked gives subtle hints to Dorothy and her story. In the film however, they provide the same hints but give little nods or “easter eggs” to the 1939 film “The Wizard of Oz“ which I thought was a fun little aspect to the movie. I appreciated the film for staying true to the entire musical and keeping the original composer for the musical, Stephen Schwarts. All the original melodies and rhythm remained, with a few small changes.
I was stunned to see a special appearance from the original Elphaba and Galinda (Idina Menzel and Kristin Chenoweth ) for the “One Short Day” scene. I was very emotional to see the original characters alongside the new ones. It felt as if Chenoweth and Menzel were passing the torch to Ariana and Cynthia.
Cynthia Erivo’s incredible vocals and runs elevated the already intense vocals required for “Defying Gravity”, and “The Wizard and I”. The tone of her voice gives the songs a subtle R&B feel while still having the Broadway stylings of the songs. Her take on the Wicked Witch shows more of her fun side, while still delivering the necessary lines with a serious tone.
One of the best instances I’ve seen of a supporting actress pulling attention and taking over a film would be Ariana Grande’s portrayal of the bubbly “Popular” Glinda. Her subtle humor and perky self gave me the same likeness as Kristin Chenoweth’s original take on the character. She made the audience laugh with her charisma and witty lines.
Erivo and Grande’s duet in “Defying Gravity” left me and those around me in tears. The emotions in the scene and the beautiful harmonizing between the two made me feel the emotions through the screen.
After nearly 3 hours, and the “To be Continued” card, I was left in tears wanting more. The movies part 2 “Wicked: For Good” will be released exactly one year after the first. The musical’s Act 2 storyline intertwines the events with Dorothy.
From critical acclaim, an almost perfect score on Rotten Tomatoes, and breaking box office records, Wicked has become one of the most successful movies and movie adaptations of a musical in the 20th century.
2024 has had a lot of movies come out and thrive such as “Deadpool and Wolverine”, but after seeing the movie adaptation of “Mean Girls the Musical” I was afraid that “Wicked” would also be as overproduced and just completely off from the story, and my expectations exceeded far from expected. I can’t recommend this movie enough, it was great. The film was very engaging and emotional, and the musical numbers were full of great moments and great songs that will get stuck in your head for weeks. After seeing the film, alongside Elphaba and Glinda, I feel I have been changed to “For Good.”