Wicked: Part I
Director: Jon M. Chu
Writer: Winnie Holzman, Dana Fox
Based on: Holzman’s and Stephen Schwartz‘s musical which is based on Gregory Maguire’s novel which is based on The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum respectively the movie The Wizard of Oz
Cast: Cynthia Erivo, Ariana Grande, Jeff Goldblum, Michelle Yeoh, Jonathan Bailey, Ethan Slater, Marissa Bode, Peter Dinklage, Andy Nyman, Courtney Mae-Briggs, Bowen Yang, Bronwyn James, Aaron Teoh Guan Ti, Shaun Prendergast, Keala Settle, Idina Menzel, Kristin Chenoweth
Seen on: 6.12.2024
[Here’s my review of the stage production I saw.]

Plot:
Wicked tells the story of how the Wicked Witch of the West became the Wicked Witch of the West. And it all started in school where Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo), whose green skin makes her a target for everyone, arrives as her sister’s Nessarose (Marissa Bode) helper, to be discovered as a magical supertalent. Much to the chagrin of popular Glinda (Ariana Grande) who dreamed of becoming a witch herself. But more is going on in Oz than it appears at first – and both Elphaba and Glinda are more involved than they initially thought.

Wicked is a wonderful musical and this movie adaptation does it justice. At least as long as you’re prepared for spending a lot of time with it, seeing as this is only the first of two parts and lasts almost three hours anyway.

I have very fond memories of the stage production I saw (over 10 years ago, holy shit) and I very much like the music, so I was really looking forward to the movie adaptation of it. I didn’t pay that much attention beforehand, though, so I was a little surprised when I realized at the end of the film that it is actually only the first part. Maybe that’s why it felt overly long for me – if I had known that they’d take almost three hours to only tell the first half of the story, I might have been braced for the slower pacing more.

That being said, the film does a good job fleshing out the story (I still haven’t read the novel this is based on, maybe I will manage until Part II – the book sits on my shelf in any case) and the characters. And it is certainly a spectacle for the eyes, so I can’t even say that it is a waste that they divided it into two parts, although I don’t think it was entirely necessary either.

The casting is excellent, too. With Cynthia Erivo this comes as no surprise, she has shown both her acting and singing skills over and over again. With Ariana Grande, I was more hesitant. I have seen her do some nice impressions but that doesn’t necessarily translate to good acting, but she does a good job with Glinda. It is hard to match Menzel and Chenoweth (the two have fantastic cameos by the way), and Erivo might manage a little better than Grande, but it works overall. I also liked that they expanded on the queer subtext here. Will they actually make it text in part II? I will find out for sure.

In any case, the music continues to be fantastic, the choreography is excellent, Goldblum is inspired casting for the Wizard and Bailey is fun to watch (despite the fact that blond really doesn’t do him any favors). The political message gets maybe lost in the spectacle every once in a while, but it is appreciated nevertheless. I am looking forward to Part II.

Summarizing: be prepared for it only being part of the story and seat yourself comfortably and you will have a really good time.