If you grew up mimicking Kristen Chenoweth’s charming nasal in “Popular,” or casting pretend spells from Gregory Maguire’s “Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West,” Jon Chu’s cinematic adaptation of “Wicked” will leave naught to be desired. Its rows of pink fluff, nine million rainbow tulips, and emerald-clad Ozians may make you seasick over the lengthy runtime, yet still “Wicked” has an undeniable charm. And the key to that charm is Cynthia Erivo (Elphaba, the Wicked Witch of the West) and Ariana Grande (Glinda the Good Witch).
The onset of the film takes place in Munchinkland, with Ozians celebrating the Wicked Witch’s (Elphaba’s) death. As the cheer winds down though, Glinda begins to recount Elphaba’s lonely backstory — how she was born with green skin and unexplained magical abilities. And so we land at the Venetian-esque Shiz University, where the two witches-in-training first met and became unlikely roommates.
Glinda wears rose-colored glasses, hoping to charm her way through life with popularity and excessive hair flips. Elphaba, on the other hand, is an outcast merely at Shiz to drop off her little sister, Nessarose Thropp. But with a little divine intervention (and to the chagrin of Glinda), Elphaba draws the attention of Headmistress Madame Morrible and becomes Glinda’s roommate.
While Elphaba seeks to harness her power in hopes of meeting the Wizard of Oz in the Emerald City, many complex plots begin to unveil themselves. There are talking animals in danger of being banned from professional careers and caged; a handsome Prince Fiyero Tigelaar who waffles between his feelings for the Good Witch and the “Bad” Witch; “delusions of grandeur”; and minor nods to how being different is special (yet not always understood).
Unlike some adaptations, “Wicked” manages to remain synergistic with the Broadway production’s first act — there are (refreshingly) no Lin-Manuel Miranda updates to the soundtrack, and added elements exist only to serve the characters’ backstories. Whether you’ve been practicing “Defying Gravity” in your car for weeks, or had never heard of “Wicked” before all of the hype, this one is worth following the yellow brick road to see before Part Two arrives next November.
Movie Times: Click Here
Genre: Musical/Fantasy
Director: Jon Chu (“Crazy Rich Asians”)
Actors: Jonathan Bailey, Marissa Bode, Peter Dinklage, Jeff Goldblum, Cynthia Erivo, Ariana Grande, Michelle Yeoh
Run Time: 2 hrs, 40 min
Rating: PG for some Scary Action, Thematic Material, and Brief Suggestive Material
