A Magical (Half of a) Journey to the Land of Oz

Although the poster, the trailer, and the merchandise (at least the stuff that didn’t get recalled) all refer to it as just Wicked, the full onscreen title is actually Wicked: Part I. The new film adapts only the first half of the hit stage musical that’s been running at New York’s Gershwin Theatre for over 21 years. The moment just before the closing credits in multiplexes is actually the show-stopping caper of the first act on Broadway. And like other “Part 1”s of recent years, Wicked does feel like half a film extended to feature-length to turn one story into two ticket sales.

But what a half a film. Other than choosing to turn one act of a play into its own 2.5 hour motion picture, the creators of Wicked did everything right. They faithfully reproduced the earworm Stephen Schwartz musical numbers and assembled one hell of a cast to sing them. Director Jon M. Chu, a veteran of movie musicals, brings the songs to life with energetic choreography and bold visual choices, all of which match — or in some cases exceed — the Broadway Wicked’s memorable staging. The results should please fans of the show, and convert more than a few skeptics as well.

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The film’s screenplay is like a Russian nesting doll of adaptations. It was written by Dana Fox and Winnie Holzman, the latter of whom wrote the book for Wicked on Broadway. The play was based on a novel by Gregory Maguire — which was a revisionist take on L. Frank Baum’s The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, with a little also drawn from 1939’s Wizard of Oz film. In Wicked, the Wicked Witch of the West (famously played in 1939’s Oz by Margaret Hamilton), is revealed to be an idealistic young woman named Elphaba (now played by Cynthia Erivo), whose green skin marks her as an outsider even within her own family.

Sent to keep an eye on her paraplegic younger sister Nessarose (Marissa Bode) while she studies at Shiz University, Elphaba and her untrained magic powers catch the eye of Headmistress Madame Morrible (an icy Michelle Yeoh), who takes Elphaba under her wing and sticks her in a dorm room with the glamorous Glinda (Ariana Grande), who is everything Elphaba is not: Perky, popular, and exceedingly pink.

Although the two young women take an instant dislike to one another, especially because Glinda easily snags the hunkiest boy in school (Jonathan Bailey’s dreamy but vapid Fiyero), by the time Elphaba begins to harness her full potential as a witch she and Glinda are the best of friends, and they travel together to the Emerald City to meet the magical Wizard of Oz (Jeff Goldblum, deploying all of his Jeff Goldblum-ness to conjure a suavely stammering Wizard).

Every single one of those actors delivers in their roles, but Grande stands out as the MVP of an impressive ensemble. Glinda isn’t an easy character to portray; she’s Wicked’s comic relief and unexpected heart all rolled into one. She delights in superficiality and treasures her deep relationship with Elphaba above all else. Grande plays both sides of the character’s transformation equally well, with a soaring voice, uncanny comic timing, and surprising warmth.

Erivo looks stunning in green, and she has one of the most glorious voices on the planet; she delivers an especially jaw-dropping rendition of Elphaba’s “I Want” song, “The Wizard and I.” But her soulful, tragic Elphaba sometimes struggles to hold the screen opposite Grande’s bubbly and vivacious Glinda. Grande’s work in Wicked is not a conventional star-making performance. For one thing, she’s already a well-established star in multiple mediums. But it may well be a movie star-making performance. It’s definitely a movie-stealing performance.

But Wicked is not just the Glinda show. The entire production proceeds in careful harmony. The sets by production designer Nathan Crowley are grand and beautiful; bigger and better than anything you can see on Broadway. (Fiyero’s mission statement of a number, “Dancing Through Life,” gets a relocated to an elaborate library filled with bookshelves shaped like massive spinning drums, which are utilized for some truly impressive flips, spins, and slides.) The choreography by Christopher Scott takes advantage of the nimble camerawork and the massive ensemble of dancers. And director Jon M. Chu captures all that movement with  a variety of different camera tricks and techniques. (The comic two-hander “Loathing” is filled with clever split screens; “One Short Day” deploys a series of long-take POV shots to tour the elaborate Emerald City set and its dancing denizens.) It’s a beautiful production that honors the popular stage musical and blows it up to a blockbuster budget.

If only the film’s runtime didn’t get blown up too. Wicked’s first act was already much longer than the second, and the film version, which clocks in at just under two and a half hours, is practically as long as the entire Broadway show. New scenes, like an early encounter between Fiyero and Elphaba, and a private training session between Elphaba and Madame Morrible, fill in some of the relationships that were perhaps a bit sketchy in the fast-paced stage play. But they’re ultimately not needed, and only slow the film down.

All of Wicked’s best moments are still the ones from the stage. There are a lot of those great moments, though; certainly more than I expected. When Erivo’s Elphaba hits the soaring high notes in Wicked’s signature song, “Defying Gravity,” it’s enough to make you wish the wait for the second half of the film was only 15 minutes, instead of an entire year.

Additional Thoughts:

-You’ve read my positive reaction to the film, as well my mild reservations about some aspects of the adaptation. But here I should note that my two daughters, who love the Broadway musical, absolutely adored this movie. They did not care that it was only half of the story. They loved the new material. They said they would rather see the film again than the Broadway show. Watching Wicked with them, seeing the delight on their faces every time I glanced in their direction, I had the distinct impression I was present at the moment they first encountered one of the defining movies of their childhoods.

-If you do have kids, especially ones who like to sing, be warned: If you take them to Wicked, you will hear these songs over and over and over. I’m writing this review after putting my girls to bed. As I’m typing these words they’re both still awake; one’s belting out “Loathing” and the other is singing “The Wizard And I.” Not since Frozen II has my home been filled with so many strained high notes. Again: Take your children at your ears’ own peril. (I’m mostly kidding. But also: It’s a lot. And I just caught myself humming “Loathing.”)

RATING: 7/10