Wicked – Review

Cert – PG, Run-time – 2 hours 40 minutes, Director – Jon M. Chu

Sorcery student Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo) is outcast by everyone, however her strong powers may be of use to the Wizard of Oz (Jeff Goldblum), and conflicting roommate Galinda (Ariana Grande) is with her each step of the way.

Despite sharing a name with, and clearly being adapted from, the smash-hit musical of the same name, Wicked has largely tried to hide the fact that it’s a musical in its advertising, and the fact that it’s a ‘Part 1’. While we open with a big musical number marking the death of the Wicked Witch of the West the title Wicked follows, filling the screen from side to side, top to bottom, ‘Part I’ written in much, much smaller letters below. Adapted from the first act of the two-and-a-half hour stage musical (minus interval) this feature clocks in at two-and-a-half hours (minus credits) and certainly makes for an open ending.

While some have claimed that this first act adaptation ends with a rounded narrative, I’d argue that it leaves its characters in situations in need of development and closing off to get them to as we know them in The Wizard Of Oz, and indeed the very start of the film. Told in a flashback, green-skinned Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo) arrives at Shiz University to drop off her sister, Nessa (Marissa Bode). However, after an incident where she displays her strong sorcery powers she’s welcomed in by the subjects professor Morrible (Michelle Yeoh), who plans to personally tutor Elphaba. Bunked with arrogant and wholly unlikable, until her sudden turn, Galinda (Ariana Grande) the pair frequently butt heads, further pushing Elphaba into her own mocked sphere at school.

Erivo and Grande’s chemistry has been a major factor in the lengthy and expansive publicity tour for this film and it comes across in the film as well, none more so than when sharing musical numbers together. As you’d hope from a musical, particularly one as acclaimed as Wicked – which I’d only ever heard Defying Gravity from before seeing this film – the songs are the highlights. A number stick out with a bouncing sense of fun, each brought to life in stark contrast to the trailers with unashamed Broadway style.

Director Jon M. Chu brings a stronger Broadway sensibility to this than his previous, highly enjoyable, adaptation of In The Heights. This is a film that understands that it needs to nail the big numbers for both the existing fans who have looped the soundtrack over the years and also making them click for new audiences. The central pairing can undoubtedly belt out the tunes, and restrain them if need be, and Erivo in particular gets across a good deal of emotion through her songs and character in general, while Grande appears to be relishing the fun she’s having with standout tracks such as What Is This Feeling? and Popular.

The songs are the fastest moments of the film and those which hold the most spectacle. At no point does Chu, or the creative team behind the visual aspects of the production, make a musical that feels as if it could be played out on a stage. In fact, narratively there’s so much happening and so many locations visited that I sat there wondering just how the events of this film could be told in just around 75 minutes on a stage. Perhaps the stage version cuts down on some of the slightly tangential moments midway through where new ideas and relationships, particularly revolving around Jonathan Bailey’s Prince Fiyero, start to crop up and push the run-time. As a whole the film does end up feeling on the long side, with much of the heavily-advertised final stages suffering from this.

Much of this comes from the talkier scenes in-between songs which grow shorter as the run-time progresses, which sometimes feel as if they’re drawing things out before the next jump into song. Songs which are often matched with bright visuals and choreography for multiple bodies across each shot to embolden the fact that this is a big musical, with particular visual detail on the sets and general production of the Emerald City. The energy of the numbers helps the later stages to pass by with less issue and holds up the film as a whole, alongside the improved relationship between the central figures who light up together as the narrative, and their relationship, develops. These moments are where the films strengths, and biggest pushes, lie, conveying the biggest and grandest points within them with the most effect. It’s taken a long time for a Wicked adaptation to make it to the big screen, and we’re yet to see it in full until this time next year, but, much like Grande and Erivo, it certainly hits the right notes with great effect.

While this first act adaptation is undoubtedly overlong, the musical numbers of Wicked both hold it up and mark its biggest successes. Showing off Erivo and Grande’s performances alongside the spectacle and effect, there’s a lot to enjoy about the songs as they lead the film and its narrative.