Wicked

The Plot: Ding dong! The witch is dead. Having been melted by Dorothy Gale, Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo) is no more. Good witch Glinda (Ariana Grande) recounts their previous contact, a long time ago when they were at Shiz University. Nobody particularly cared for Elphaba back then because of her green skin and regarded her as an outsider. So too did Glinda at first, but they became roommates. They are polar opposites and yet an unlikely friendship develops, just as Elphaba’s latent powers become more pronounced…

The Verdict: Musical films are strange beasts. They defy logic after all – if people spontaneously broke out into song, then they’d get strange looks and be carted away by men in white coats. And yet… there’s something about their scenarios playing out in a film that gives them a free pass to joyously celebrate character emotion in song. Not that you’d even notice from pre-release film marketing. Hollywood studios seem to be a bit averse about announcing a film as a bona fide musical like the recent, unfairly maligned Joker: Folie A Deux. That shouldn’t be the case with Wicked, a long-in-the-making screen adaptation of the Broadway stage show that first played in 2003, is still running and will very likely get a further box office boost following the release of this film.

Although Crazy Rich Asians director Jon M. Chu wraps up the story neatly towards the end, Wicked opens with an onscreen title of Part 1. This is just the beginning of an expansive film saga recounting the fall, rise and further fall of the Wicked Witch Of The West, so memorably played by a cackling Margaret Hamilton in The Wizard Of Oz. How Elphaba got to that extreme point is the film’s focus, rewinding the magic hourglass to recount an Anakin Skywalker-like story of a good person giving into her anger and the consequences of that for herself and those around her. It’s not as cut-and-dry as that though and this is where the film really shines in the story department. The script by Winnie Holzman and Dana Fox, loosely based on a novel by Gregory Maguire, goes into deep focus on the apparent friendship between two very different people who will become increasingly opposed to each other over time. It’s a story for the ages, told in minute details that have the potential to become major ideological story touchpoints.

The story of Elphaba and Glinda (or Galinda as she likes to remind people) is the foundation for Wicked and from early on it becomes apparent that Chu has ensured that it’s rock solid. That much is evident from the confident way in which he re-introduces the world of Oz with his own particular visual flourishes, coming across as both nostalgically familiar and sparkly new at the same time. He then has some fun with the characters, in particular Glinda. A traditionally goody two shoes character, Chu sands off those smooth edges so that she’s a bit self-absorbed and attention-seeking, but in a slyly amusing way. The constantly poised and hair-flicking Ariana Grande-Butera is delightful here – yes, pop singers can act as well and in this case, she nails the character spot on.

More interesting though is Cynthia Erivo as Elphaba, who digs deep and pulls out screen magic from her witch’s hat for a sympathetic, misunderstood portrayal of Elphaba that makes her descent all the more tragic. Early on, Glinda is asked by a villager if she was friends with Elphaba. She replies that their paths crossed, but that doesn’t even scratch the surface. As Glinda remarks, is a person born evil or is it thrust upon them? Chu is keen to explore that theme and it resonates strongly throughout, with the kind of soulful songs that match the character’s emotions at particular points in the story. The film looks great too, with the production design letting off a steampunk aesthetic with the train that takes Elphaba and Glinda to meet the Wizard himself (a sprightly Jeff Goldblum). Wicked could very well have been just another cash-in film adaptation of a successful Broadway show. However, like its signature song Defying Gravity, it consistently defies expectations, is well-produced and has two great leads that sprinkle around that Oz movie magic for an all-round winning formula. Roll on Part 2 in a year.

Rating: 4 / 5

Review by Gareth O’Connor