WICKED Finally Makes It To The Big Screen — Review

Several years ago, when a partner at the time learned that I had somehow never seen Wicked on stage (still haven’t), he responded to this revelation by pulling up the show’s Wikipedia page and reading the full plot description aloud—beat by beat, plot point by plot point—so that I might understand just how insane the narrative of Wicked actually is.

Indeed it is—totally, completely bonkers. A quick listen of the cast recording will not clue you in, for instance, on how central the rounding-up and imprisonment of sentient animals is to the show’s narrative. Nor would it indicate the pointed exploration of power, corruption and fascistic propaganda that sits at the heart of this surprisingly political tale. We won’t even delve into the second act’s wild twists and turns. 

Not here at least, as here we’re talking about Wicked: Part One, the first installment of director Jon M. Chu’s big-budget screen adaptation of the long-running Broadway smash. Tasked with building out the intricate world of Oz while still keeping a central focus on the musical’s heart, the unlikely friendship between Elphaba (later the green-skinned “Wicked Witch of the West”) and Galinda (“Glinda the Good”), Chu has opted to split the story into two parts so all these disparate elements might find some room to breathe. 

It’s a big bet—and a mixed success. In terms of lending complexity and nuance to Elphaba and Glinda’s connection, the two-part gambit is a resounding triumph. But for the ensemble players and Chu’s attempts to build a larger milieu around them, the results prove decidedly more mixed.

Starting with the great (and powerful): stars Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo are both tremendous, each bringing a rich complexity and surprising warmth to two familiar characters. The challenge is huge—these are roles that can easily slide into caricature, both closely identified with their Broadway originators Kristin Chenoweth and Idina Menzel. Erivo and Grande somehow manage to find fresh takes; the loving bond that develops between the two has a lived-in authenticity. 

Grande is especially impressive, toeing the line between Glinda’s surface self-absorption and deeper sensitivity with precision. If Erivo gets a little less nuance to play with, that’s more a problem of the material. Both show off astonishing vocals throughout, though Erivo’s riffs can be distracting at more emotional moments.

Screenwriters Winnie Holzman and Dana Fox, drawing from Holzman’s musical book, mostly devote their extra narrative space (a lot of it, at an excessive 2 hour and 40 minute running time) to their central duo. For our ensemble players, that imbalance isn’t ideal. 

Perhaps this problem is inevitable, since the roguish Fiyero (Jonathan Bailey), nerdy munchkin Boq (Ethan Slater) and Elphaba’s sweetly sister Nessarose (Marissa Bode) get more to do in the show’s second act. But the film’s extraordinary length could have provided room to flesh them out a bit more. Boq and Nessa feel barely present, while Fiyero takes ages to even show up on screen at all. 

Once Bailey does ride in, the tremendously talented heartthrob feels underused and ultimately miscast—for all his charm, the man is simply too old to sell “Dancing Through Life,” a paean to youthful abandon. Slater and Bode are both likable as Boq and Nessa; Michelle Yeoh makes up for a weak singing voice with her undeniable presence as the magisterial Madame Morrible; and Jeff Goldblum is perfectly cast as The Wizard, sweetly with just the right touch of menace.

Sadly, the internet’s concerns about Chu’s visual approach prove warranted. Despite lavish sets and evident attention to detail, too many shots look flat and washed-out (in the manner of so many Hollywood products these days, Marvel films most especially).  A few sequences do stand out, such as a sublime introduction to the glittering Emerald City. For that sequence, Chu lets a single shot actually run for a while as he guides us through the chaos. But most scenes are overloaded with cuts, rarely lingering long enough to allow a good look at Christopher Scott’s vibrant choreography.

The world of Oz also feels a little small, as a whole. A sequence at the Ozdust Ballroom expands our world a little bit, but I wished for more in this regard. And the less said about the film’s CGI animals, most of them character-less blobs, the better. 

It is arguably unfair to hold any movie up against the original 1939 classic Wizard of Oz, a timeless masterpiece. Yet in watching Wicked: Part One, it is hard not to sadly recall that film’s formal inventiveness and visual splendor. This film is well-done, a pleasing popcorn flick with two excellent performances at its center. Yet it ultimately suffers from bland visual, video-game CGI and an absence of unique, truly distinctive creative vision. It’s a Wicked for our times, for ill and for good. 

Wicked: Part One hits theatres nationwide on Friday, November 22.