Wicked (2024)
8/10
Now I understand what all the fuss is about. The depth of Wicked ’s cultural impact is something I was largely unaware of before the film adaptation stormed the box office, accompanied by critical acclaim and reports of fans singing along in movie theatres. As a neophyte to Stephen Schwartz’s stage musical, all I knew going into the movie version, directed by Jon M. Chu, was that it was a prequel to The Wizard of Oz sympathetic to the Wicked Witch of the West. After watching, I’m officially a convert. This is a fantastic experience packed with great songs and performances, ranking up there with the greatest Hollywood musicals.
The best description I’ve heard for the devotion of the Wicked fanbase is that this musical is “like The Avengers for theatre kids”. It tells the story of Elphaba Thropp (Cynthia Erivo), later known as the Wicked Witch of the West, and Galinda Upland (Ariana Grande), who will become Glinda the Good Witch—detailing their origins, the evolution of their relationship, and precisely how Elphaba becomes “wicked” and public enemy number one in the Land of Oz.
That bare-bones plot summary may understandably cause eyerolls among cynics and skeptics, since it sounds like any number of unnecessary cash-grab prequels Hollywood has churned out over the years. But as is the case for much performance art, its success depends not just on what the story is about, but how it’s told. Wicked is the best-case scenario for a prequel, revisiting established lore from a fresh angle and giving us unforgettable characters and songs arguably equal to anything in the classic 1939 Wizard of Oz film.
Let’s start with the songs. Musicals live or die based on the quality of their music and Wicked offers banger after banger—none of which I’d ever heard before watching the movie, but which will be regulars in my playlist going forward. “No One Mourns the Wicked”, “The Wizard and I”, “Dancing Through Life”, and “Defying Gravity” are the standouts for me, with “Popular”, “I’m Not That Girl”, and “One Short Day” following close behind. All the tunes are enjoyable, often further elevated by impressive dance routines; “Dancing Through Life” is particularly memorable in that regard.
Then there are the performances. I’ve never really listened to Ariana Grande, so I wasn’t aware how wide her singing range is. She displays impressive vocal acrobatics as Gelinda, going up to the whistle register. I wasn’t aware she started her career as a child actress, so was surprised how solid her acting is. Jonathan Bailey is excellent as Prince Fiyero Tigelaar, showing off his dancing and singing skills with “Dancing Through Life”, and he has good chemistry with Erivo and Grande. Jeff Goldblum is always a welcome sight and fun to watch as the Wizard of Oz. He and Michelle Yeoh, who plays Madame Morrible, both do credible jobs singing, though I’m not sure to what extent pitch correction may have been involved.
Erivo, however, is the MVP. She’s a pitch-perfect lead as Elphaba: vulnerable, yet funny, and commanding when necessary. When she sings “The Wizard and I” and “Defying Gravity”, she knocks these tunes out of the park. Erivo and Grande do a good job playing their characters’ growing friendship, including in a silent dance scene where they express their affinity purely through body movement and facial expressions. The sound of their voices harmonizing together in duets is extremely pleasing to the ear.
Harder to judge is the story, since I have yet to see its conclusion. The first half of Part I is merely adequate in terms of plot. Elphaba and Gelinda’s experience at Shiz University feels like a retread of Harry Potter. Things get more interesting when we start to see political themes emerge, with the Land of Oz discriminating against animals—who are intelligent and capable of speaking, such as Dr. Dillamond (voice of Peter Dinklage), a talking goat and history professor—and forcing them into cages to render them incapable of speech.
When Elphaba and Gelinda arrive in the Emerald City and meet the Wizard, they discover the state is deliberately trying to solidify its control over the population by whipping up fear of a designated “enemy”. The responses of our two main characters diverge at this point. In her review for Communist Revolution, M.A. Olanick comments on the political themes of Wicked and how society has changed since the musical premiered on Broadway in 2003:
The friends’ discovery at the end of Part 1, that politicians lie and manufacture divisions for their own purposes, is sure to resonate with movie audiences today, just as it did with theatre audiences 20 years ago. What rings less true is the absolute trust that inhabitants of the world of Oz have in their leaders and the media.
In the original stage production, the figure of the Wizard was a deliberate riff on then-U.S. president George W. Bush, with direct analogues in the show for the much-hated White House press secretaries and Fox News. While the movie has shed any out-of-date references, the plot of Wicked still revolves around the notion that the masses are easily led by the lies of politicians and the media. It assumes that, except for a few enlightened individuals, most of the population is complacent towards, or gleeful participants in, the oppression of others. This position was already wrong when the musical came out 20 years ago.
Today, however, after more than a decade of major social movements and upheavals, when trust in government and media is at an all-time low, the liberalism of Wicked is especially out-of-touch. Hearing the government denounce someone as “wicked” and dangerous to society is more likely to spark interest than the universal chorus of condemnation that the movie ends with. If you want proof, look no further than the growing popularity of communism.
Recent events have further confirmed Olanick’s assessment. Witness the widespread public support for the assassination of United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson and the transformation of alleged killer Luigi Mangione into a folk hero, despite attempts by capitalist media and the state apparatus to demonize him. Or you could look at the re-election of Donald Trump, who only became more popular among voters the more the media and political establishment attacked him.
On a technical level, Wicked loses points for its lighting, which at times is shockingly poor. While daytime scenes are visually appealing, scenes set in darkness are so poorly lit that it can obscure our ability to see what’s happening. Chu has defended the film’s colour grading as wanting to make the fantasy world of Oz feel like a “real place” and make the audience invested in the characters. But the muddied darkness of these scenes represents a disservice to the actors, who are giving it their all and deserve better. Wanting “naturalistic” colour is less important than being able to see what’s happening and having a movie look good.
These quibbles aside, Wicked offers everything one could ask for from a larger-than-life Hollywood musical. Despite being only the first part of a two-part story, the film is satisfying on its own terms and could well renew the appreciation of many viewers for musical theatre.