Movie Adaption Of ‘Wicked’ Musical Is Amazing, But Also Long

‘I’ ON CULTURE

The new movie adaption of Wicked, a musical retelling of The Wizard of Oz, more or less from the point of view of the witch, is an enormous hit. And deservedly so. I was a bit dubious; a lot of Broadway musicals do not translate well to the screen. But this new movie does it smoothly. Yes, it is long. The original movie is an hour and 42 minutes. The stage version of Wicked was about two and a half hours. The film runs two hours and 42 minutes, and it is only the first half. The ending will be available in about a year.

The movie, like the musical, is based on a book of the same name by Gregory Maguire, and while there is a very short view of Dorothy Gale and the other well-known characters, the film focuses through the lens of Glinda the Good’s (Ariana Grande) memory of her relationship with Elphaba Thropp (Cynthia Erivo), who becomes the wicked witch. Or does she?

They meet at Shiz University, where Elphaba is to support her paraplegic younger sister Nessarose (Marissa Bode). Elphaba is shunned, as she has been all her life, because she is green. But she unintentionally reveals her magical abilities and is anxious to study under the powerful Madame Morrible (Michelle Yeoh) in hopes of meeting the Wizard of Oz, who might be able to change her skin color. But she is assigned to room with Galinda Upland (Grande), a girl who lives to be popular.

Things get a bit complicated when love, mostly in the form of a rebellious prince, Fiyero Tigelaar (Jonathan Bailey), creates a rift. And the talking wise animals who are at the school are losing their rights and their ability to speak. And Galinda, later calling herself Glinda, gives Elphaba a hat (the witch’s hat from The Wizard of Oz), which leads to ridicule. Glinda’s guilty feelings lead her to do a makeover of Elphaba, which gets them to the second most popular song from show, “Popular.”

As the animals are forced out, Elphaba is invited to meet the wizard (Jeff Goldblum). But things are not what they seem. I will leave the rest to either your imagination or seeing the film. And, yes, Erivo sings the showstopper, “Defying Gravity.”

One of the best things of the film is the cast. Erivo is marvelous in the lead role. Her acting is very good, and what she goes through is believable throughout, despite being green. OK, I have to write it… it’s not easy being green. Her voice is rich and gorgeous. Grande is incredible. Not only does she have the vocal chops for the part, but she is a really good comic actress. Who knew? I would love to see her do more comedy but, of course, she makes much more singing.

The rest of the cast is also good. Yeoh as Morrible is appropriately an ambiguous character. Bailey is charming as the prince; not only dashing, but a good singer and even better dancer. I liked Bode as Nessarose. She was absolutely charming. Peter Dinklage’s voice playing Dr. Dillamond, a talking goat, was good. And Goldblum did typical Goldblum really well.

The movie does drag a bit. There is lots of extra plot. But overall, it kept my interest. Director John Chu knows how to do a musical right. Also, the sets and costumes were really good.

There are complaints from some corners that it is “woke.” The themes of discrimination and fascism are strong, as they were in the book written 30 years ago, and that may bother some people. This is not our parents’ view of Oz. And they had the better songs. The score here is good, but nothing can match “Over the Rainbow,” “If I Only Had a Brain” and, of course, “We’re Off to See the Wizard.”

But comparisons aside, this is the best musical in theaters for quite a while, and in a year where really good movies are rare, this is a treat. Some have compared its simultaneous released with Gladiator II as “Glicked” in memory of “Barbenheimer,” but neither of these two films matches up with the ones from last year.

So, if you like musicals or just interesting stories, this movie is your cup of tea. Just remember, though, it’s just the first half of the story.