WICKED PART ONE Reviewed by GREG KING
Director: Jon M Chu
Stars: Cynthia Erivo, Ariana Grande, Michelle Yeoh, Jeff Goldblum, Jonathan Bailey, Peter Dinklage, Andy Nyman, Ethan Slater, Marissa Bode, Bowen Yang,
Wicked is the fourth longest running show in Broadway history and has been seen by over 60 million people worldwide. It won four Tony Awards. The musical play was based on Gregory Maguire’s 1995 novel of the same name, which served up an origins story for Elphaba, the infamous Wicked Witch of the West from the 1939 classic The Wizard Of Oz. As portrayed by Margaret Hamilton in that film, the Wicked Witch of the West has become recognised as one of the most famous of movie villains. But, according to Maguire’s novel, Elphaba was not always bad; rather she was a lonely, bullied and misunderstood girl who was turned into a villain by circumstances.
The Broadway musical was written by veteran lyricist Stephen Schwartz (Godspell, etc) and Winnie Holzman (the tv series My So-Called Life, etc) in 2003. And now it reaches the big screen in this visually lavish and superbly mounted production from director Jon M Chu (Crazy Rich Asians, the musical In The Heights, etc). Wicked has been deliberately broken into two parts (Part Two due to hit cinemas in 2025) to remain faithful to the original stage play, allowing the writers to delve deeper into the characters and their backstories and add details from the source novel as well. The film also delves into some important themes dealing with friendship, oppression, prejudice, corruption, and the abuse of power.
The film opens with the joyous news that the wicked witch has been killed. The munchkins are celebrating with singing and dancing in the streets. Then Glinda (played here by singer Ariana Grande), the good witch, arrives, but instead of celebrating Elphaba’s demise she becomes nostalgic, remembering when she crossed paths with Elphaba when they both attended Shiz University and were once friends/rivals.
Elphaba (played by Tony Award winner Cynthia Erivo, from the Broadway musical production of The Color Purple) was born with green skin and had magical powers that would reveal themselves whenever she got angry. She was the product of a brief adulterous affair her mother had with a seductive stranger. Her powerful father, the governor of Munchkin Land (Andy Nyman) rejected her and she was raised by her bear nanny. But later she is sent by her father to keep a watchful eye on her younger, wheelchair bound sister Nessarose (Marissa Bode) when she heads off to study at Shiz University. At the school though Elphaba is shunned by the other students because of her looks.
But the school’s formidable headmistress Madame Morrible (Michelle Yeoh) recognises Elphaba’s potential and agrees to privately tutor her in the art of sorcery. She arranges for her to share a dorm room with the rich, bubbly but shallow and narcissistic Glinda, who loves the colour pink. At first the pair are at odds with one another, but soon a friendship develops between them and they become a formidable duo within the school. And both girls vie for the affections of the handsome new student Fiyero (Jonathan Bailey, from the tv series Bridgerton, etc).
The early sections of this 160-minute film, set at Shiz University, combines elements from both the Harry Potter series and Mean Girls with lots of superbly choreographed song and dance numbers. However, the film soon moves into darker territory with the upsurge in anti-animal sentiment. Elphaba offers some resistance to this cruel policy.
When Elphaba is invited to visit Emerald City and meet the wonderful wizard of Oz (played here by Jeff Goldblum) the drama picks up and the film becomes more interesting. This second part of the film explores how Elphaba confronted the corruption of Oz and was turned into the wicked witch, a convenient enemy to distract from the failings of the wizard himself.
This is a visually spectacular, energetic and colourful production. Its $145 million budget can be seen on the screen. Director Chu uses practical, large-scale sets where possible to give the settings the look and feel of real places. He still employs CGI visual effects throughout the film though to augment the sets, and the ILM special effects team create the anthropomorphic animals that also populate this magical land (Peter Dinklage provides the voice for Professor Dillamond, the wise old goat that teaches history at Shiz). The ILM studios also created the flying monkeys of Oz during the climactic confrontation between Elphaba and the Wizard. Chu allows the big production numbers plenty of space and energy.
The production design from Nathan Crowley is impressive and he creates distinct visions for Munchkin Land, the Shiz university campus and the Wizard’s grand palace. Crowley also designed the sets for Wonka, and, not surprisingly, there is some similarity with the look of the colourful village of Munchkin Land. The costumes from Paul Tazewell (West Side Story, etc) are colourful. And the cinematography from Alice Brooks (In The Heights, etc) is quite stunning.
Both Grande and Erivo are superb in their roles, and their rich and strong vocals, recorded live on set, enrich the songs. Unfortunately, a couple of the songs are quite bland though. But Part One ends on a high note with the finale Defying Gravity setting up expectations for Part Two. Erivo is very good as the principled and strong-willed but tragic Elphaba, delivering a nuanced performance, while Grande brings a bubbly energy to her largely comic performance as Glinda. The pair share a dynamic chemistry. Goldblum seems to be having fun as the flawed wizard, while Yeoh has a commanding presence as Madame Morrible.
Fans of the stage musical will not be disappointed with this cinematic take on Wicked. This film runs for 160 minutes and basically covers the first act of the play, albeit with some additional scenes, ending with a cliffhanger to set up expectations for Part Two.
★★★
